Kelly Ortberg stood in front of investors and said the words "wing production" like he was announcing a software delay. Wings. The things that keep the plane from becoming a lawn dart. Those are running behind schedule.
The 737 Max factory in Renton, Washington cannot make wings fast enough. This is not a chip shortage problem. This is not a supply chain issue. Boeing looked at the wing situation and said it's taking "a little bit longer" to stabilize. Stabilize. The word you use when your teenager's grades are slipping, not when you're building the part of the aircraft that generates lift.
Ortberg has plans to address it. He did not share those plans. He just wanted everyone to know plans exist. Somewhere in a conference room, a PowerPoint deck titled "Wing Acceleration Strategy" sits unopened. Slide four probably says "make wings faster" in Helvetica Bold.
Retail traders heard this news and checked their portfolio. They own BA at $187 because a guy named Kyle told them aerospace is recession-proof. Kyle works at Jamba Juice. He does not know what a stabilizer is. Neither does Boeing's production team apparently, but at least they get dental.
The Max already spent two years grounded after the whole "planes falling out of the sky" situation. Now it's back in production, and the bottleneck is wings. Not software. Not sensors. Not regulatory oversight. Wings. The technology we perfected in 1903.
Boeing has delivered 291 Max jets this year. They wanted to deliver more, but wings keep being necessary for flight, which really messes with the timeline.
Photo by Tienko Dima on Unsplash
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