Boeing
- Stock Code
- BA
- Business Type
- Planemaker
- Date Founded
- 1916-07-15
- CEO
- Dave Calhoun
- Headquarters Location
- Chicago, USA
- Key Product Lines
- Boeing 737, Boeing 747, Boeing 757, Boeing 767, Boeing 777, Boeing 787
The May monthly orders and deliveries reports for Airbus and Boeing have arrived, reinforcing that Airbus is maintaining its 2022 lead. Year to date, Airbus has delivered 237 commercial aircraft and Boeing 165. In total, the two OEMs have delivered 402 aircraft, with Airbus holding a 59% share and Boeing 41%.
Boeing delivered 35 aircraft in May, dominated by 29 B737 MAX 8 aircraft. Of those 29 MAXs, 11 went to lessors, with the other 18 spread among eight airlines. Ryanair and Southwest Airlines received four each; three went to flydubai, two each to Alaska Airlines and TUI Travel and one each to Air Canada, Korean Air and WestJet. Boeing also delivered three B777Fs and one B747-8F freighter, one 767-2C and one 737-800A for military conversion programs.
Airbus delivered 47 aircraft in May, with the numbers similarly dominated by 37 A320neo aircraft, with almost all deliveries of one per customer. A330neos went to Starlux Airlines, Corsair and Cebu Pacific, while Air France, ITA Airways and World2Fly each received one A350. Four A220s were delivered, two to airBaltic, and one to Air France and Breeze Airways.
Emirates currently has an order for 30 Boeing 787s. Photo: Boeing
Boeing needs the FAA to clear the 787 and get deliveries going
Boeing is hamstrung by the FAA directive that prevents B787s from being delivered. Yesterday the Seattle Times reported that the ban is likely to be lifted in the coming weeks and that an FAA official close to the process said the agency recently accepted Boeing’s recertification plan for the 787s.
According to the report, the official said that the FAA has asked Boeing to deliver a few extra items of test and analysis before the plan is final, but they won’t require it to be submitted. It also says that this suggests Boeing is close to the approval it needs, and it seems likely Boeing will have the green light to rework and start delivering 787s again ahead of Farnborough [Air Show], which is held outside London in mid-July.
Today Simple Flying contacted Boeing to ask if there was any progress on the 787 issues, and in an emailed reply, their spokesperson told us:
“We continue to work closely with the FAA toward resuming 787 deliveries.”
While comparing deliveries between the two OEMs is straightforward, the same is not true when looking at orders and backlogs. Boeing reviews its orders and removes any prior recorded sales that it feels make not be completed, while Airbus does not make that information public. In May, Boeing added 14 orders net of cancellations, and it also removed five aircraft from its official order book as being too uncertain to be regarded as firm orders. On that basis, the net May orders came down to nine, and the year-to-date tally was reported as 107 aircraft orders.
The A320neo is keeping Airbus ahead of Boeing
While Spirit continues to mull the A321XLR, the airline is moving forward with taking new Airbus A320neos. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
The Airbus May report shows net orders of 13 and a total year-to-date of 191 aircraft, net of cancellations but without adjustment for any uncertain orders. Perhaps a fairer comparison is with the Boeing orders of 171 aircraft, which does not make any adjustment for suspect orders. Before any adjustments for uncertainty, the reports show Airbus has a backlog of 7,037 airplanes, and Boeing has 5,142.
Boeing still has undelivered 737 MAX inventory and is continuing to produce 787s while it works with the FAA to find a solution. At some point, those issues will be resolved, and Boeing will have a significant number of aircraft it can deliver, so perhaps that will be the time to compare where each OEM stands in 2022.
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Source: The Seattle Times
