Boeing’s January 2024 deliveries shrink 29pc compared to 2023

Dhaka: Boeing, on February 13, said, it delivered 27 airplanes in January 2024, down 29 per cent from the same month in 2023 as regulators, lawmakers and customers pressured the planemaker following a MAX 9 mid-air cabin panel blowout in January 2024.

Deliveries of the profit-making 737 MAX fell to just 25 aircraft after two solid months where Boeing delivered in excess of 40 MAXs. While deliveries tend to be slower in January 2024, Boeing delivered 38 airplanes, including 35 MAXs, in January 2023.

The US planemaker booked three gross orders, its lowest total since 2019, after a blockbuster December in 2023. It said, as per reports, anonymous customers cancelled orders for two 737 MAXs while Spanish carrier Air Europa cancelled an order for one 787 Dreamliner.

On the other hand, Boeing's European rival Airbus delivered 30 jets in January 2024 and reported 31 new orders.

Boeing has been scrambling to explain and strengthen its safety procedures after a January 5 accident involving a door plug on a brand-new Alaska Airlines MAX 9 that was detached during flight. In response, the US Federal Aviation Administration grounded the MAX 9 for several weeks in January 2024 and has capped Boeing's production of the MAX while it conducts an audit of the plane maker's manufacturing process.

In February 2024, Boeing supplier Spirit Aerosystems discovered a new quality glitch. Spirit incorrectly drilled holes on the window frames of some 737s, potentially slowing deliveries of about 50 planes.

Aside from the 737 MAX deliveries, Boeing delivered one 787 Dreamliner and one widebody 767, which be modified into a KC-46 tanker for the US Air Force.

Boeing's backlog decreased from 5,626 to 5,599 aircraft as of January 31, 2024. It has a total of 6,189 unfilled orders when accounting adjustments are not considered.

Reports cited Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun saying, on January 31, that the company would not issue aircraft delivery targets for 2024 as it works through the current crisis.

Plane manufacturers typically deliver around the same number of aircraft produced in a given month, yet Boeing has dozens of 737s and 787s that were put in storage due to the MAX crisis in 2018-2019 or need rework to correct production defects. Reports cited Boeing officials saying that the company plans to deliver most of those inventory jets by 2024 end.

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