Boeing will load the first 737 MAX onto its new Everett assembly line on July 6, marking the first time a 737 has been built outside the company's Renton plant since 1970.

CEO Kelly Ortberg confirmed the date in a CNBC interview on Friday, June 6. "We'll be loading our first airplane on July 6, so just about a month from now, we'll be bringing that [fourth] line alive," Ortberg said.

The new production line, known internally as the North Line, has been years in the making. Boeing first announced the fourth 737 MAX line in January 2023, but the FAA capped production at 38 jets per month after the Alaska Airlines door-plug blowout in January 2024, forcing a delay.

The cap was lifted in October 2025, and Boeing ramped output to 42 per month, then to 47 per month after passing an FAA capstone review in late May 2026.

The North Line occupies space inside Boeing's Everett factory that opened up after 787 production moved to South Carolina in 2021 and 747 production ended in December 2022. More than 30,000 Boeing employees work on the Everett campus, according to the Everett Herald.

The first aircraft will be a 737 MAX 10, the largest variant in the MAX family at 143 feet, 8 inches long. Boeing has said it expects FAA certification of the MAX 10 before the end of 2026.

Boeing is hiring and training hundreds of workers to staff the North Line, drawing from new hires and transfers from Renton, Everett, and Moses Lake. John V., identified only by first name in a Boeing company post from April, is a mechanic with nearly 40 years at the company now serving as FAA and customer coordinator for the North Line.

He said even veteran employees are training in Renton to learn the 737 program before the Everett line starts.

The line will initially operate at low-rate production while Boeing demonstrates to the FAA that its Everett processes conform to those in Renton.

Systems on the North Line replicate the Renton setup, with one exception: a new wing transport tool that ferries partially completed wings for final assembly.

The North Line is central to Boeing's plan to push 737 MAX output to 52 jets per month, a pace Boeing targets for early 2027. The company's long-term goal is 63 per month if the supply chain can support it. Boeing Vice President and 737 General Manager Katie Ringgold told suppliers in February that they can expect output to increase about 15% in the next 18 months.

IAM Local 751 represents roughly 33,000 workers in the Puget Sound area who build Boeing's commercial airplanes, including the 737 MAX.

The union secured a 38% general wage increase over four years and a $12,000 ratification bonus in its 2024 contract. No union statement specific to North Line hiring has been released.

Boeing holds approximately 4,870 unfilled 737 MAX orders.