LONDON (Reuters) – Boeing (NYSE:) has posted a significant improvement in production at its 737 MAX factory, the modern head of its commercial aircraft unit said on Sunday, as the U.S. planemaker grapples with a safety crisis.

Stephanie Pope’s remarks in London ahead of this week’s Farnborough Air Show are her first appearance in front of journalists since taking up the role earlier this year.

Boeing was plunged into crisis after a door panel tore off in January on a 737 MAX 9 jet, slowing production of its best-selling plane and drawing increased regulatory and legal scrutiny.

Boeing also agreed to plead guilty to a conspiracy to commit fraud charge related to an investigation into two earlier fatal 737 MAX crashes.

The company is seeing “significant improvements in workflow in our 737 factory,” Pope told reporters on a panel with two other Boeing executives.

Pope has been named CEO of Boeing’s commercial division as part of a broader management shakeup that will see Chief Executive Officer David Calhoun step down by the end of the year.

Pope reiterated the company’s statements that the planemaker expects to return MAX production to about 38 planes per month by the end of 2024.