Boeing is running out of parking space – again

Paige Bruton
·2 min read
Boeing is running out of parking space – again

  • Around 200 Boeing jets are sitting idle in airfields and outside plants, per the Wall Street Journal.

  • The jets are mostly complete but are reportedly awaiting parts or delivery.

  • This isn't the first time Boeing planes have built-up at manufacturing facilities and airfields.

Around 200 Boeing jets — mostly complete or almost complete — are sitting idle and awaiting parts or delivery, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The Journal reported that the planes are parked in airfields, outside manufacturing facilities, and, in at least one case, in the employee parking lot.

Supply chain shortages mean some jets are still awaiting parts, while others that are completed are waiting for delivery to China.

Boeing did not respond to a request for comment.

The lack of parking space comes as the company faces intense scrutiny over its safety measures, including FAA investigations, and grapples with certification delays for new aircraft.

Per the Journal, the parking overflow issue is likely unrelated to these issues. Boeing has slowed aircraft production to improve the safety and quality of manufacturing practices, which could be preventing an even larger build-up of grounded planes.

Three green Boeing 777X jets stationed at a production facility.
Boeing 777X jets parked at a production facility in Everett, Washington in 2021.David Ryder/Getty Images

Tightened security checks have come after a door plug blew out of a Boeing 737 on an Alaska Airlines flight in January.

Since then, several Boeing whistleblowers have made allegations of safety shortcuts in the production process, requiring further FAA investigation.

Boeing agreed to plead guilty to defrauding the US earlier this month, admitting to accusations that it violated an earlier agreement to strengthen its safety measures in the wake of two fatal Boeing 737 crashes in 2018 and 2019.

This is not the first time Boeing planes have built-up at manufacturing facilities and airfields.

In 2019, Boeing 737 Max aircraft were grounded following the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302.

In August 2019, Business Insider published photos of Boeing 737 Max planes piling up in one of the company's storage fields in Seattle.

And in December of that year, other images showed around 100 fuselages of Boeing 737 Max planes sitting idle at the headquarters of Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kansas. Boeing recently acquired Spirit AeroSystems in a $4.7 billion all-stock deal.

Read the original article on Business Insider