DOHA, June 22 (Reuters) – Boeing expects supply chain problems to persist almost until the end of 2023, led by labour shortages at mid-tier and smaller suppliers, partly due to the faster-than-expected return of demand, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

Boeing said last month that production of its 737 aircraft had been slowed by shortages of a single type of wiring connector, while some of its airline customers had been forced to cancel flights due to a lack of staff in the post-pandemic recovery.

“The shift from demand to now supply issues … is remarkable, the speed with which it happened,” Boeing Chief Executive David Calhoun said at Bloomberg’s Qatar Economic Forum in Doha.

He said Boeing had a big, complicated supply chain with lots of fragility in it, leading to problems when there were delays.

“It’s been a real issue for both manufacturers and will probably stay that way in my view almost to the end of next year,” Calhoun said.