The production of Boeing's troubled 737 Max plane is important enough to the economy that a temporary halt in production would reduce the level of gross domestic product by 0.15% for the year, JPMorgan's analysts calculated.
Sales of the 737 were expected to total $35 billion this year, JPMorgan found, and the Max accounts for 90% of that total. That's one quarter of total domestic aircraft production.
Boeing (BA) has so far kept the assembly lines running, even as all 371 of the jets have been grounded following a pair of deadly crashes. As long as Boeing keeps making the planes -- even if it doesn't sell them -- the aggregate level of GDP won't be affected.
If planes stop rolling off the lines, however, the hit to aggregate GDP could be significant.