Boeing has started building the wings that will go on the new 737 MAX jet undergoing assembly at its plant near Seattle. The first completed jet is slated to roll out later this year, with a first flight planned for early next year and deliveries starting in 2017, The Seattle Times reported this week. The MAX, the latest version of the Boeing 737, will compete with the Airbus A320neo in the single-aisle airliner market. The new 737 will feature larger CFM engines that are more fuel efficient. Their increased weight will require thickening the jet’s wing in some places, the Times reported. Development of the new airliner also marks updated manufacturing practices at Boeing. New assembly machines have increased automation to 70 percent of the wing-building process. Another four machines will soon be in service, allowing 90 percent automation, the Times reported. “It means we can go to future rates without adding a bunch of people,” Barry Lewis, director of wing manufacturing, told the newspaper. “It makes the workforce stable.”
Meanwhile, Airbus still plans to deliver its first A320neo jet by the end of the year despite an issue with an engine component as the model undergoes its flight-test phase, Reuters reported. The A320neo, under development at Airbus’ Toulouse, France, plant, began flight tests in September with Pratt & Whitney PurePower PW1100G-JM engines. Pratt & Whitney is working on a fix and completion of the jet is expected to stay on schedule. The new A320 also will be sold with CFM International’s fuel-efficient LEAP-1A engine. Airbus had 3794 orders for the A320neo at the end of May, according to a report by USA Today, while Boeing has 2,724 orders for the new 737.
