By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Boeing (NYSE:BA) shares were up 2% in Friday’s premarket following a Reuters report that said the maker of the 737 MAX has drawn up preliminary plans to raise output of those jets to as many as 42 units a month in fall 2022.
The plans would extend the U.S. company's recovery from overlapping safety and COVID-19 crises and lift output beyond the March 2022 target of 31 a month, the report said.
The development comes soon after the plane manufacturer secured on May 13 a much-awaited regulatory nod for an electrical fix that had kept some 100 of its 737 MAX series grounded.
The electrical problem has kept Boeing’s popular 737 MAX planes suspended for an extended period.
Two accidents in 2018 and 2019 forced authorities to ground 737 MAX, which was at the time Boeing's biggest money maker in a booming market for narrow body planes. The 20-month safety ban was lifted in November after the company made the fixes.
But the flights were halted in April after a separate electrical issue led the manufacturer to stop deliveries of the planes with an advisory to its clients not to fly those in their fleet.
While Boeing gets its act together, rival Airbus (PA:AIR) too is preparing to produce more A320-family planes that compete with 737 MAX.
A May 11 Reuters (TSX:TRI) report said Airbus had asked key suppliers to get ready for a further 18% increase in A320-family jet output by the end of 2022, on top of existing targets for this year.