Boeing Faces Bumpy Commercial Ramp-Up Before Smoothing Out

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Boeing's senior vice president of global supply chain and fabrication, Ihssane Mounir, has acknowledged the challenges the aerospace giant and its suppliers face in the toughest phase of the company's commercial manufacturing recovery. This comes as Boeing looks to ramp up production to meet growing demand for air travel.

Why it matters

Boeing's ability to smoothly ramp up commercial aircraft production is critical not just for the company, but for the broader aerospace industry and the thousands of suppliers that rely on Boeing's orders. Any hiccups in this process could have ripple effects across the industry.

The details

Mounir, in his annual address to the Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance conference in Seattle, has had to strike a humble tone in recent years as Boeing has navigated production challenges stemming from the 737 MAX grounding and the COVID-19 pandemic. The company is now looking to rapidly increase output to meet rising demand for air travel, but Mounir warned that the toughest phase of this recovery is still to come.

• Ihssane Mounir delivers his annual keynote address each February at the Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance conference in Seattle.