Boeing on track to meet 737 MAX production targets: spokesman

Reuters
A Boeing 737 aircraft is seen during the manufacturing process at Boeing's 737 airplane factory in Renton, Washington, United States May 19, 2015. REUTERS/Saul Loeb/Pool

(Reuters) - Boeing Co <BA.N> remains on track to meet production targets it has set for its 737 MAX jetliner, a company spokesman said on Friday following a report on industry concerns that slow output at supplier GKN PLC <GKN.L> could cause delays.

The Chicago-based aircraft maker expects to roll out the first 737 MAX before the end of 2015, fly it in early 2016 and deliver it to customers on time beginning in the third quarter of 2017, Boeing spokesman Doug Alder said in a statement.

On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported concern among industry executives that the process could be slowed because of problems at GKN producing the jetliner's engine thrust reversers.

A spokesman for GKN declined to comment on Friday.

Boeing is attempting to hit record production speeds for the popular 737 jetliner program, often called a cash cow. It aims to build 52 per month by 2018 versus 42 currently.

Its shares were down 2.8 percent on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in New York; editing by Grant McCool)