Boeing has missed analysts’ targets for production and has fallen further behind Airbus, its European rival, amid its continuing problems with the 737 Max.
The American aerospace group delivered only 29 commercial aircraft in March. They comprised 24 of the narrow-body, short-haul 737 Max and five twin-aisle, long-haul 787 Dreamliners.
Regulatory constraints and production difficulties had meant that Boeing was always going to produce significantly fewer 737 Max jets in March. In the event, the number delivered is less than half the 64 that went out to customers in the same month last year.
It left total deliveries for the first quarter of the year at 83, of which 66 were the 737 Max, lower than already downwardly revised estimates. In the first quarter of 2023 it delivered 130 aircraft.
It leaves Boeing trailing Airbus, which reported that it had delivered 142 jets in the first quarter.
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The Airbus A320 family is a direct competitor to the Boeing 737 Max — easyJet flies the former, Ryanair the latter — while the Airbus A350 is the European group’s equivalent to the Boeing 787.
The 737 Max programme has long been in crisis, culminating last month in the Seattle-based manufacturer announcing the departure of Dave Calhoun as its chief executive. The aircraft type began flying commercially in 2017. It had two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people. All 737 Max aircraft were grounded until late 2020.
This year a panel covering a redundant emergency exit on an Air Alaska 787 Max blew off in mid-flight, causing injuries but no fatalities. The aircraft type was grounded again to allow global fleet checks, the latest round of audits by the Federal Aviation Administration, the American regulator, into production, quality and safety issues at the manufacturer.
The regulator has put a cap on Boeing of producing a maximum of 38 aircraft a month until it is given clearance by the authorities to increase output. The knock-on effect has been felt by big customers such as Ryanair, which has trimmed its profit forecasts because of delays in delivery.
Airbus reported that it had delivered 63 aircraft in March, taking its first-quarter total to 142. Of that, 128 were narrow-bodied jets, 116 of which were the A320 family, with the rest in the smaller A220 model. It also delivered 14 long-haul aircraft, comprising seven A330s and seven A350s.
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The wings for Airbus aircraft are mainly assembled in Britain at the company’s factory at Broughton in north Wales. Rolls-Royce Derby is the exclusive manufacturer of engines for the Airbus A350.
• How Wall Street greed led to Boeing’s 737 Max crisis
The 737 Max crisis has put Boeing in such a spin that before his departure Calhoun, 66, withdrew forecasts on what the financial outcome might be for the company this year. “While we often use this time of year to share or update our financial and operational objectives, now is not the time for that,” the former chief executive said, while reporting a full-year $2.2 billion loss for 2023, after a $5 billion deficit in 2022.
Analysts believe the shortfall in first-quarter deliveries could mean that the Boeing Commercial Airplanes division reports a 30 per cent drop in revenues for the three months to $4.7 billion.
The FAA said on Tuesday that that it was investigating a Boeing whistleblower’s claims that the company dismissed safety and quality concerns in the production of its 787 and 777 jets.
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Boeing shares closed down by $3.44, or 1.9 per cent, at $178.12 in New York on Tuesday, a fall of almost 30 per cent this year.
