BoeingThe greater than 32,000 striking machinists must return to their factories by Tuesday at the newest, but it would be weeks before the factories are back up and running, the manufacturer said.
Boeing machinists last week agreed to a brand new contract that included a 38% pay increase over 4 years and other improvements, ending a greater than seven-week strike that crippled production of much of Boeing's aircraft production. They first quit the job on September 13, turning down a suggestion of a 25% raise.
The company said Tuesday that it handed over 14 planes in October, the fewest since November 2020, when the pandemic was at its height and the worldwide grounding of Boeing's 737 Max was ending after two fatal crashes. Nine of last month's deliveries were 737 Maxes. A spokesman said staff not affected by the strike carried out delivery procedures.
Boeing's problems have left it further behind Airbus this 12 months. The US manufacturer has delivered 305 aircraft thus far this 12 months, while its European competitor had 559 aircraft.
As staff return, Boeing might want to assess potential hazards, restate machinist duties and safety requirements and ensure all training qualifications are up to this point, a spokesman said.
“It's a lot harder to turn this on than to turn it off,” CEO Kelly Ortberg said throughout the company's quarterly earnings call last month. “That’s why it’s absolutely critical that we get this right.”
The company is resuming production of the 737 Max, 767 and 777 programs and military versions of its aircraft in Washington state and Oregon. Production of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner continued throughout the strike because those planes are manufactured at a non-union factory in South Carolina.
Despite the strike pause, Boeing continued to sell dozens of planes in October with 63 gross orders, two fewer than in September. Forty of them are 737 Max 8s for the Avia Solutions Group. In addition, 10,787 Dreamliners were handed over to LATAM Airlines.
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