Boeing is aiming to ramp up production of its 787 Dreamliner to seven aircraft per month by the end of the year, up from the current rate of five. The ambitious target comes as the aerospace giant continues to navigate challenges related to supply chain disruptions and certification delays for critical components, particularly seating systems.
“We’re at five per month. We want to get to seven sometime this year,” Boeing Chief Financial Officer Brian West told investors during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call on January 28.
The 787 program, centered at Boeing’s North Charleston, South Carolina, facility, has been operating at a production rate of five jets per month for the past year. Boeing projects deliveries of 75-80 Dreamliners in 2025, including both newly built jets and those currently in inventory. This would mark a significant increase from the 51 aircraft delivered in 2024, which included an estimated 25 jets that had been built in previous years but stored prior to delivery. Assuming that Boeing delivers the 25 787s remaining in storage to customers this year, production of new aircraft will likely total 50-55 units.
Boeing’s production targets remain a far cry from the company’s peak Dreamliner output in 2019, when it was assembling 14 aircraft per month across two sites: the original 787 facility in Everett, Washington, and the North Charleston plant. However, the company scaled back production following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, consolidating all 787 assembly operations in South Carolina and addressing ongoing quality concerns and supply shortages.
Boeing offers two engine options for the 787, the GE Aerospace GEnx and the Rolls-Royce Trent. The GEnx has outsold the Trent for many years and accounts for the majority of engine deliveries to the 787 program in a typical year.
