American aircraft manufacturer Boeing delivered only 348 planes during 2024, its production having been disrupted by numerous quality problems and by a strike of more than 50 days which paralyzed several crucial factories.
This is well below the 766 planes delivered by its European competitor Airbus, which arrived slightly below its own forecasts “in a complex environment”.
Nearly 33,000 Boeing workers, in its cradle of Seattle (northwest), went on strike from September 13, on the sidelines of negotiations on a new social agreement which was finally ratified on November 4. But production at the Renton (737) and Everett (777, 777X and 767) factories did not resume until mid-December.
According to data published Tuesday by Boeing on its website, the aircraft manufacturer delivered 265 units of the 737 family over the year – including 260 of the MAX series, its best-selling aircraft -, as well as 51 787 Dreamliners, eighteen 767s in freight version and fourteen 777 wide-bodies.
In 2023, already disrupted by quality problems, the group had handed over 528 planes to airlines. This was the highest since 2018 (806).
In the month of December alone, the aircraft manufacturer delivered thirty aircraft, including eighteen 737s and ten twin-aisle aircraft (787 and 777).
Note the delivery of nine Dreamliners, the highest monthly level of the year for this model whose production rate was four per month at the Charleston (South Carolina) factory. Boeing announced in mid-December an investment of one billion dollars to increase to ten monthly by 2026.
On the sales side, the year was not very successful with 569 gross orders and only 317 net of cancellations and various conversions. Boeing had received 1,456 gross orders in 2023.
The year 2024 is the worst since 2020, when the manufacturer received 184 gross orders in the wake of the 737 MAX 8 crashes in October 2018 and March 2019 and the start of the pandemic.
In the month of December alone, the aircraft manufacturer recorded 142 gross orders – 126 net -, including that of the Turkish company Pegasus for the hundred 737 MAX 10s announced on December 19 (with an option for an additional 100).
This model is still not certified by the American Aviation Authority (FAA), although the first deliveries were planned for 2023.
In December, the group also recorded an order placed for thirty Dreamliners by the low-cost airline FlyDubai during the Dubai Air Show in November 2023, which has just been finalized.
At the end of December, the order book stood at 6,245 aircraft.
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