Boeing Pushes Back 737 MAX Production-Rate Target to Early 2027

Boeing will not reach its long-sought production rate of 47 737 MAX jets a month until early 2027, a delay of several months from the company's previous target of this past summer, according to RTHK's report of comments CEO Kelly Ortberg made during a CNBC interview. The setback lands even as Boeing notched a separate milestone this month, winning FAA certification for the long-delayed 737 MAX 10 variant, and as the company reported improved free cash flow and lower net debt in its third-quarter results.

What Is Slowing the Ramp-Up

Ortberg told CNBC the rate-47 goal will not be met until "into early next year," pushing back a timeline the company had maintained through this past summer, RTHK reported. He pointed to a specific bottleneck: RTHK reported that in September Ortberg said Boeing had not been able to make wings fast enough, a supply-chain constraint cited as a factor in the slower ramp. Simple Flying reported in February that the rate-47 milestone, once widely expected in 2026, was by then on the books for 2027 as Boeing worked through training, quality controls and FAA stability requirements.

The delay follows earlier signs of strain. Investor's Business Daily reported in September that Ortberg warned production was taking "a little bit longer" than planned, a characterization CNBC also noted, adding that Ortberg told investors last month the company still expects to increase 737 output next year. Notably, in June, Boeing's own site quoted Ortberg saying the 737 MAX supply chain was "stable to support future rates," at a time the company was moving its three Renton lines from 42 to 47 jets a month that summer, a five-jet-a-month step up (47 - 42 = 5). That optimism has since given way to the newly disclosed slippage into 2027.

On a more positive note for the program, the FAA certified the 737-10, the largest MAX variant, after years of delays, Boeing's investor relations site and CNBC both reported. NPR Illinois noted the certification clears the way for airlines to begin putting the jet into service.

Financial Picture: Cash Flow Up, Margins Under Pressure

Boeing's commercial airplanes unit posted a negative operating margin of 6.5% in the quarter, which the company attributed to "a less favorable delivery mix, higher projected costs associated with future production rate adjustments and higher estimated supply chain costs," according to CNBC's report on the results. Global Banking & Finance separately reported that Boeing's share price fell as 737 output and cash-flow growth slowed, even though the underlying cash and debt figures improved from a year earlier.

Free cash flow rose to $464 million in the third quarter from $238 million in the same period of 2025, a gain of $226 million, or roughly 95% (464 - 238 = 226; 226 / 238 x 100 = 94.96%), based on figures reported by CNBC. Net debt fell to $25.2 billion at quarter-end, down from $25.9 billion in the prior quarter and $30.4 billion a year earlier, RTHK reported. In our reading of those figures, the improvement in cash generation and debt reduction sits alongside continued unit-level margin pressure, suggesting Boeing's broader balance-sheet recovery is advancing even as the 737 production ramp lags the company's own earlier schedule.

How Customers Are Responding

The delayed ramp arrives against a sizable backlog. More than 30 customers worldwide have ordered 1,555 737 MAX 10s that Boeing has yet to deliver, representing more than 30% of the total 737 MAX order book, according to Boeing's investor relations release and NPR Illinois. Major MAX 10 customers include United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and Ryanair, with Alaska Airlines joining the list in January with an order for 105 MAX 10s plus options for 35 more, NPR Illinois reported. Across the full 737 MAX program, customers have placed 7,350 orders, of which nearly 2,500 had been delivered through the end of September 2026, per Boeing's investor relations figures.

The long wait has already altered at least one airline's plans. United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby told CNBC in August that the carrier had been waiting so long for the MAX 10 that lie-flat seats it had ordered for the jet no longer make sense and are sitting in a warehouse. Alaska Airlines, by contrast, said last month it plans to install lie-flat seats on some of its MAX 10s as part of a push into premium offerings, CNBC reported.

Bottom Line

Boeing's 737 program is moving on two tracks at once: regulatory progress, with the MAX 10 now certified after years of delay, and a production schedule that keeps slipping, with the rate-47 target now pushed into early 2027 because of wing-supply constraints Ortberg has acknowledged. The company's cash flow and debt metrics improved year over year, but the commercial airplanes unit's negative margin and the drawn-out delivery timeline show the ramp-up is still a work in progress. Airline customers with large MAX 10 backlogs, including United and Alaska, are already adjusting cabin plans around the wait, a sign that the production delay has moved from an internal manufacturing issue into decisions airlines are making about their own fleets.