Supply Chain Turbulence: Industry-wide Reality and Opportunity

The aviation industry is on a promising path, bouncing back to pre-pandemic traffic levels. It is heartening to see this recovery, showing how vital air travel is for connecting families, businesses and economies around the world. However, despite progress in certain areas, supply chain challenges remain an industry-wide reality.

Yet, these challenges can drive collaboration, pushing us to innovate and strengthen our ecosystem. We have powerful tools — digital technologies, artificial intelligence and advanced engineering — that can help us build a more resilient and efficient industry. Embedded in this is safety and quality. It is not just about following regulations; it’s about doing what’s right because people’s lives depend on it.

We are blessed to be in a region with a rich aviation history and spirit of collaboration and innovation. The businesses here have the skills and capabilities we need to support our industry now and into the future. And they have the quality and on-time delivery to support this, with 20 percent of our top performing suppliers coming from the region. This is a remarkable achievement considering Boeing Commercial Airplanes has nearly 1,200 suppliers across more than 30 countries.

This is why events like the upcoming PNAA ADVANCE are critical. They give us a chance to connect, form new partnerships and share ideas to build a brighter future. Because to reach our shared goals, we need to keep the lines of communication open, so we can understand each other’s needs and find solutions together.

So, if you are facing any issues or barriers, let us know and we can tackle them together. We are committed to helping you, whether it is through technical and quality support, or financial and training resources. We will also work closely with you to come up with aggregation strategies, stabilize demand with data-driven safety stock, and find engineering solutions to minimize risks with materials and components.

Along this journey, we commit to transparently communicating about production rates and working with you at a detailed part-by-part level. We will continue to streamline processes, clarify engineering requirements, and share lessons learned because improvements identified by one of us has the potential to benefit all of us.

Boeing is dedicated to this region and we know that our team, supplier partners and community are key to our success. It is why we’ve pledged to build the next generation of airplanes right here in Washington. And it is why we are focused on developing the future aerospace workforce through initiatives like the Core Plus Aerospace Program, which helps high school students get advanced hands-on manufacturing experience.

As we navigate these dynamic times, let’s view challenges as opportunities for growth and innovation. Together we can turn obstacles into stepping stones toward a stronger, more stable aviation industry. The journey ahead is ours to shape and I am excited to see where it takes us.