Boeing hiring more than 100 factory workers a week

InternationalBoeing hiring more than 100 factory workers a weekBy Reuters -Apr 16, 2026Boeing is hiring around 100 to 140 factory workers a week, the highest pace ‌since 2024, as the U.S. jetmaker replaces retirees and increases staffing to support higher production rates and new models, a union leader said. Boeing’s unionized factory workers in the Pacific Northwest now number more than 34,000 and are “heading higher,” Jon Holden told Reuters in his first interview as a vice president specializing in training and ​apprenticeships at the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM). “We’re seeing strong interest as we hire in Puget Sound and across ​the enterprise to support our production rate increases,” a Boeing spokesperson said in an email to Reuters. The IAM ⁠represented about 33,000 Boeing workers in the region in 2024 when Holden headed that local union during a seven-week strike over a new contract. Boeing ​needs to staff a fourth Seattle-area production line, known as the North Line, for the planemaker’s strong-selling 737 MAX narrowbody jet, Holden said, ​adding that it also needs to support production of the 777X widebody that is still awaiting certification and to replace retirees. “So it’s not just those working on the North Line,” he said. Holden started this month as the union’s vice president of training and apprenticeships. “It will be, you know, those that have to bring parts, ​logistics and storage. It’s going to be tooling, it’s going to be you know, transportation.” On Thursday, Boeing also said it is working to expand ​satellite production capacity and launch a new satellite platform. Boeing is targeting 26 satellite deliveries in 2026, up from four in 2025. In Washington state, aerospace manufacturing ‌jobs had ⁠dropped to around 79,000 last August but steadily climbed back to 81,800 in February, according to the state’s Employment Security Department. Aerospace companies are hiring to meet demand from airlines for more...