Deliveries and production of the company’s bestselling jet slowed in September amid snafus at one of its key suppliers

Boeing said it delivered 15 new 737 jets to the world’s airlines in September. Deliveries of Boeing’s 737 MAX jets to customers fell in September to the lowest level in more than two years, laying bare how one of the U.S.’s largest manufacturers is struggling to churn out enough jets to fill the skies.

The company’s operations have been disrupted this year by a series of snafus at one of its key suppliers. The latest problem, discovered in August, is misdrilled holes on the fuselage of its bestselling 737s. As a result, production of the more than $100 million jet—which accounts for the bulk of Boeing’s output— is running at about half the company’s target.

Boeing executives have said that deliveries would slow but that they still expected to meet their targets for the full year. Boeing said earlier this year that it was moving to complete an average of 38 new 737s a month. It made 22 in September, according to data from Aero Analysis Partners/AIR, a research firm.

Excerpt from WSJ
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