Boeing Opens Fourth 737 MAX Line in Everett, Targets 47 Aircraft Monthly

Boeing will open its fourth 737 MAX assembly line this summer at its sprawling Everett, Washington, facility. This will mark the first time in the programme's history that a 737 will be built outside the company's longstanding Renton site. Dubbed the North Line, the new facility will expand single-aisle production capacity, allowing Boeing to better meet market demand, with construction and tooling already complete and the focus now squarely on hiring and training hundreds of workers. As reported by FlightGlobal on April 9, 2026, the line is designed to push total 737 MAX output beyond 47 aircraft per month once it clears Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) validation. This critical regulatory gate will govern exactly how fast Boeing can scale.

What the North Line Is, and Where It Sits.

Located where Boeing once assembled 787 Dreamliners, the Everett facility is where Boeing ceased its production of 787s in 2021, moving all 787 production to its North Charleston, South Carolina, plant. According to FlightGlobal, in December 2022, Boeing also completed its last 747 in Everett. The factory, the largest building in the world in terms of volume, is now turning to narrow-body work. The North Line will have the capacity to manufacture all the 737 MAX models, but will start with the 737-8, 737-9, and 737-10. It will duplicate the Renton manufacturing process with one exception: a 737 Wing Transport Tool that will transport partially finished wings to Everett to finalize them, as reported by the Boeing Outlook

Production Numbers: Where Boeing Stands Today

Boeing has been building around 42 MAX planes a month and intends to boost that number to 47 at Renton this year. According to The Daily Chronicle, it will construct anything more than 47 per month in Everett, Boeing CFO Jay Malave told a Bank of America conference. Over the longer run, Boeing has a goal of 63 737 MAX jets monthly - a figure that not only is additional, but also a structural necessity in the recovery plan of the company. In 2025, Boeing had a record of 600 aircraft deliveries, 440 of which were MAX aircraft, the most Boeing has ever delivered in a single year since 2018.

The FAA Gate: LRIP and What It Means

The line will not start at full capacity. It will commence in Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) as specified in the Boeing press release. Herein, aircraft will be produced to test process adherence to the FAA prior to the North Line being authorized to operate under Boeing's existing production certificate, PC700. The subsequent output of 47 jets per month, which was projected to begin in 2026, is projected to be reached in 2027, with the company having to undergo training, quality assurance, and FAA stability mandates.

Industry Specialist Perspective

Boeing General Manager Katie Ringgold, in a talk at the Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance Advance 2026 conference, put the timing in perspective:

Ringgold has also attributed three elements behind Boeing's production recovery. This includes culture reset, quality improvement imperatives to key 737 suppliers, and decentralizing production decisions to the factory floor, where workers, not executives, make the decision whether an aircraft moves down the line or not.

The Numbers Behind the Ambition

The expansion of Everett by Boeing comes at a time when the world is in need of single-aisle planes at unprecedented levels. Airbus and Boeing have a collective backlog of narrowbody aircraft in the thousands, and a wait of over a decade to have new aircraft orders fulfilled. The North Line will increase its pace to two 737 MAXs each month in 2027, with a full ramp expected to take several years. The increase in output is not an immediate solution, but a strategic move to sustain production. Boeing is constructing the infrastructure to restore production on a sustained basis. The North Line, which will continue to be built in Everett, also provides Boeing with a special home to build the MAX 10, its most complicated model.