Engine maker Safran upbeat on Boeing 737 MAX production this year

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PARIS (Reuters) – The head of French jet engine maker Safran said on Friday he was certain Boeing would reach key production milestones for the 737 MAX jet during this year.

“Boeing had a very good start to the year in January,” CEO Olivier Andries said, referring to data that saw Boeing outpace European rival Airbus in deliveries for the first time in a single month in almost two years.

“I have no doubt that Boeing will reach 38 (MAX aircraft produced) a month during the first half and that it will be at 42 (a month) before the end of the year.”

Together with GE Aerospace, Safran co-owns engine maker CFM International, whose LEAP engines power the 737 MAX and some competing Airbus jets. Public comments from engine makers on jetliner production are rare and shed extra light on production plans given their critical importance.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration imposed a ceiling of 38 aircraft a month after a wrongly installed door panel blew off an Alaska Airlines jet a year ago. It has said Boeing must hit a number of interim safety metrics before the cap is lifted.

Industry sources say Boeing is currently producing fewer than 30 of the jets a month.

Boeing has not said when it will reach 42 planes a month, which is the next significant waypoint as it increases production towards a pre-crisis level of around 56 a month.

Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg told analysts last month: “I do want to … get through the approval this year and get to that 42 sometime towards the end of the year”. He added that Boeing still had some work to do to ensure its systems were stable.

Andries said Boeing had a “three-digit” stockpile of LEAP-1B engines at its facilities, suggesting it has at least enough engines available for 50 of the twin-engined MAX jets.

Announcing results earlier, Safran cautioned that supply chains remained a risk to growth.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Sharon Singleton)