波音将于12月起向全日空交付737 Max，属既有订单的计划内交付，无新增订单或指引

RENTON, Washington -- Boeing in December will begin deliveries of 737 Max aircraft to Japan's All Nippon Airways, as the companies work together to improve quality controls for a family of planes with a checkered early safety record.
The deliveries will mark the U.S.-based manufacturer's first supply of the narrow-body jets to ANA, which plans to deploy up to 42 737-8 airplanes.
ANA will be the second Japanese airline to use the 737 Max, following budget carrier Skymark. Domestic peer Japan Airlines plans to introduce 38 737-8 planes starting this fiscal year.
Boeing recently showed its cooperation with ANA to reporters at the main 737 Max production facility in Renton, Washington.
The 737 Max aircraft was involved in two crashes in 2018 and 2019 that resulted in a total of over 300 deaths. In 2024, another major incident happened when a door on a 737-9 blew off during a flight operated by Alaska Airlines.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) placed production caps on Boeing to improve quality controls, but rolled back some restrictions in October last year.
Boeing plans to raise production at Renton to 47 aircraft per month. It will start up a production line at another plant in Everett, Washington, to return to pre-crash levels as it chips away at an order backlog of roughly 4,300 aircraft.
In the Alaska Airlines incident, problems were found with the installation of the bolts used to attach the door. After the accident, Boeing slowed production to improve quality controls, investing in more employee training and other measures while simplifying some aspects of production and component management.
During the press tour at Renton plant, employees trained on modified aircraft and had their skills tested. The plant has adopted some of the kaizen model of continuous improvement pioneered by Toyota Motor.
ANA has sent inspectors to the Renton plant to make sure the aircraft being built meet its own specific standards. It is not unusual for airlines to do this before taking delivery of an aircraft, but not all do.
ANA has been working closely with Boeing and plans to have its inspectors check the planes about three months before delivery.
ANA had 319 of these inspectors company wide as of Oct. 1, with three of them stationed at Boeing's Renton facility.
"I physically go to the manufacturing site myself and verify with my own eyes that the aircraft are being built to specifications," an ANA inspector said. The inspectors continue to monitor the aircraft after they go into operation, communicating any quality concerns to Boeing that could be addressed through design changes.
The 737 Max family comprises single-aisle, narrow-body planes with around 100 to 200 seats. Bigger aircraft for long-haul flights were once the mainstream.
But demand for narrowbody jets is growing thanks in part to the rise of budget airlines. Smaller planes' range has also improved thanks to better engine and airframe performance.
Boeing is working to distribute production across sites to avoid concentration in any one plant, according to Hector Silva, head of quality for the company's commercial division.
Last month, an FAA official said certification of Boeing's new 737-10 would be delayed, but ANA has said the reason for the delay is unrelated to the aircraft that is introducing and has no direct impact on the Japanese airline.