MOSES LAKE, Washington: The future of Boeing Co’s freshly approved 737 MAX is in the hands of nearly 700 workers toiling behind the gray doors of a three-bay hangar at a desert airport in Washington state.
Inside, over an endless 24-hour loop, 737 MAX planes are rolled in for maintenance, and upgrades of software and systems as mandated by the US Federal Aviation Administration in this week’s order lifting a flight ban imposed after two crashes, the airport’s director said.
In front, workers in bright yellow vests inspect the roughly 240 jets stored in giant grids at Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake – more than half of an inventory worth about $16 billion, according to investment firm Jefferies.
Analysts say clearing the logjam of up to 450 stored jets in total is crucial before Boeing can resume meaningful production of its traditional cash cow – a task complicated by the fact that buyers have in some cases walked away during the grounding.
While parked on the tarmac, each jet is fitted with red engine and wheel covers, a windshield screen to block out the sun, and a small generator powering cycles of fresh air and electricity through its systems – the aviation equivalent of life support.
“It’s an enormous undertaking,” the airport’s director, Rich Muller, told Reuters. “But this go-ahead from the FAA has given them a real shot in the arm. It’s really energized everyone.”
The work at Moses Lake is a cornerstone of a global logistical and financial strategy under way at Boeing to clear a backlog of more than 800 mothballed 737 MAX jets. About 450 are Boeing property, and a further 387 were in airline service before the FAA’s grounding order in March 2019.
Across the globe, Boeing teams are hammering out delivery schedules – and financial terms – with airlines who last year had to scale back schedules and fly aging jetliners because they lacked the aircraft to meet strong demand as the MAX grounding dragged on longer than airline and Boeing executives expected.
But the jet is returning at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has hammered demand for air travel and new jets. Boeing also faces new European trade tariffs and palpable mistrust of one of the most scrutinized brands in aviation.
“Airlines and the supply chain do not see major deliveries until 2022,” said Arndt Schoenemann, managing director of supplier Liebherr-Aerospace Lindenberg. “Right now, COVID is the biggest problem for the industry.”
A Boeing spokesman declined to comment beyond listing preparation steps before 737 MAXs go to customers, which include installing a flight control software upgrade to deal with a system tied to both crashes, separating wiring bundles that posed a potential safety hazard, and multiple tests including a test flight before a final FAA inspection.
Airlines say it will take about two weeks to ready each plane for service with maintenance and software upgrades factored in, though Boeing has already deployed teams around the world to help companies get ready.
In a visual display of the jet demand slump, workers at Moses Lake on Thursday rolled a 737 MAX “white tail” – a jet without a buyer, or whose buyer has been changed – out of a long row of aircraft awash in the bright liveries of airline customers, ranging from customers American Airlines to Norwegian Air. This week, Norwegian sought bankruptcy protection in Ireland.
Reuters counted 12 white tails at Moses Lake on Thursday, though sources say Boeing is worried about 100 such aircraft in inventory, or more.
Boeing declined to comment.
Jets are also stored at Boeing property in the Seattle area and in San Antonio, Texas.
Boeing is in discussions with several airlines, including Southwest, Delta and Alaska, hoping to stimulate demand for the jet. Deals are expected to include significant discounts, industry sources have said. But analysts caution cutting prices too far could upset other customers.
A fire sale could also depress resale values of such single-aisle jets – the cornerstone of a complex system of financing that has attracted capital to the industry, powered by relatively strong returns on planes which are seen as mobile real estate.
To kickstart the recovery of the MAX and contain any fallout to the jet’s valuation while offering aggressive discounts to find new homes, Boeing is expected to line up a handful of large deals with marquee customers who will put them in long service.
The 737 MAX 8 has a list price of $122 million but the market long ago abandoned published prices as competition heated up. Most jets are privately sold well over 50% below the list price and the new MAX discount may be more, jet traders said.
Slowing the recovery, the FAA, which has faced accusations of being too close to Boeing in the past, has said it plans in-person inspections of each of the 450 planes, which could take at least a year to complete, prolonging the jets’ deliveries.
Grant County International has been a strategically important asset for Boeing at least since the 1960s, and every MAX built in the Seattle area is flown there for touch-and-go landings or other tests.
The airport and abutting Boeing property has absorbed nearly 700 employees and contractors to aid the ungrounding effort, up from only a handful, Muller said.
Meanwhile, Boeing is paying some $51,000 per plane a month to park its MAXs, he added.
Boeing 737 MAX jets undergo round-the-clock effort to clear inventory
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Boeing 737 MAX jets undergo round-the-clock effort to clear inventory
- Clearing the logjam of up to 450 stored jets in total is crucial before Boeing can resume meaningful production of its traditional cash cow
Gulf-EU value chain integration signals shift toward long-term economic partnership: GCC secretary general
RIYADH: Value chains between the Gulf and Europe are poised to become deeper and more resilient as economic ties shift beyond traditional trade toward long-term industrial and investment integration, according to the secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Speaking on the sidelines of the World Governments Summit 2026 in Dubai, Jasem Al-Budaiwi said Gulf-European economic relations are shifting from simple commodity trade toward the joint development of sustainable value chains, reflecting a more strategic and lasting partnership.
His remarks were made during a dialogue session titled “The next investment and trade race,” held with Luigi Di Maio, the EU’s special representative for external affairs.
Al-Budaiwi said relations between the GCC and the EU are among the bloc’s most established partnerships, built on decades of institutional collaboration that began with the signing of the 1988 cooperation agreement.
He noted that the deal laid a solid foundation for political and economic dialogue and opened broad avenues for collaboration in trade, investment, and energy, as well as development and education.
The secretary general added that the partnership has undergone a qualitative shift in recent years, particularly following the adoption of the joint action program for the 2022–2027 period and the convening of the Gulf–European summit in Brussels.
Subsequent ministerial meetings, he said, have focused on implementing agreed outcomes, enhancing trade and investment cooperation, improving market access, and supporting supply chains and sustainable development.
According to Al-Budaiwi, merchandise trade between the two sides has reached around $197 billion, positioning the EU as one of the GCC’s most important trading partners.
He also pointed to the continued growth of European foreign direct investment into Gulf countries, which he said reflects the depth of economic interdependence and rising confidence in the Gulf business environment.
Looking ahead, Al-Budaiwi emphasized that the economic transformation across GCC states, driven by ambitious national visions, is creating broad opportunities for expanded cooperation with Europe.
He highlighted clean energy, green hydrogen, and digital transformation, as well as artificial intelligence, smart infrastructure, and cybersecurity, as priority areas for future partnership.
He added that the success of Gulf-European cooperation should not be measured solely by trade volumes or investment flows, but by its ability to evolve into an integrated model based on trust, risk-sharing, and the joint creation of economic value, contributing to stability and growth in the global economy.
GCC–EU plans to build shared value chains look well-timed as trade policy volatility rises.
In recent weeks, Washington’s renewed push over Greenland has been tied to tariff threats against European countries, prompting the EU to keep a €93 billion ($109.7 billion) retaliation package on standby.
At the same time, tighter US sanctions on Iran are increasing compliance risks for energy and shipping-related finance. Meanwhile, the World Trade Organization and UNCTAD warn that higher tariffs and ongoing uncertainty could weaken trade and investment across both regions in 2026.
