Boeing’s Deliveries Decline by 50% to 26 Airplanes in April

Boeing experienced a significant decline in deliveries, with only 26 airplanes delivered in April. This represents less than half of the previous month’s total and is attributed to a manufacturing defect that prompted the company to temporarily halt shipments of its popular 737 MAX passenger jet.

Deliveries of the 737 MAX, which had reached 52 narrowbody jets in March, decreased to 17 planes in April. This resulted in the lowest passenger jet deliveries for Boeing since July 2022 and is below the 35 planes delivered in April of the previous year.

Boeing received 13 net orders after accounting for 21 cancellations. Among these were three MAXs initially ordered by Dominican Republic operator Arajet, which were part of a sale-leaseback deal for lessor BOC Aviation Ltd.

Boeing also delivered in April:

• 6 787 Dreamliners
• 1 767 freighter
• 1 777 freighter
• 17 737 MAX
• 1 737-800 conversion into a P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft for South Korea.

Deliveries play a crucial role for planemakers as they allow them to collect the majority of the payment when handing over jets to customers. Therefore, these figures are closely monitored by Wall Street.

The recent delivery setback for Boeing is related to an issue with two brackets that connect the MAX’s aft fuselage to its vertical tail. These brackets were incorrectly installed by fuselage maker Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc. Approximately 75% of the 225 MAXs in Boeing’s inventory are estimated to require reinstallation of these brackets before being handed over to customers.

During an earnings call last month, Boeing’s Chief Financial Officer, Brian West, informed investors that MAX deliveries would slow down in the second quarter but are expected to increase to around 40 jets per month with sequential quarterly improvement in the latter half of the year.

For the first four months of 2023, Boeing has delivered a total of 156 jets, including 128 MAXs. Airbus SE, Boeing’s rival, has not yet released its April order and delivery statistics.