Boeing Kept Steady 737 Max Pace in January, While Airbus Production Slowed

Feb. 14—After the usual gush of jet deliveries by the world's biggest planemakers at the end of last year, Boeing deliveries slowed in January, though the pace of 737 MAX production was steady.

At Airbus, production dipped more dramatically, reducing the delivery stream to a trickle.

In terms of new sales, January will be eclipsed by February as Air India announced Tuesday morning a gigantic order split between Airbus and Boeing.

Airbus booked net orders in January for 36 aircraft — all single-aisle airplanes, comprising 24 A320neo family jets and 12 of the smaller A220s.

Boeing recorded only 16 new net orders in January, including seven widebody 787s. However, it restored 29 aircraft to its firm backlog, having previously taken those jets out because the orders were uncertain.

Early Tuesday, the White House announced a blockbuster Boeing order from Air India for 250 jets. The deal includes firm orders for 190 single-aisle 737 MAXs, 20 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and 10 widebody 777Xs. According to market-pricing data from airplane valuation firm Avitas, that's worth approximately $14 billion after discounts.

Air India, privatized last year and now owned by the Tata Group conglomerate, also signed for options to purchase later an additional 50 MAXs and 20 Dreamliners for a potential total of 290 aircraft.

The record-breaking order was split with Airbus, which won total orders for 250 aircraft: 140 A320neo and 70 A321neo single-aisle aircraft, as well as 40 wide-body A350s. No breakdown distinguishing firm orders from future options was provided for the Airbus deal, so it wasn't immediately possible to make a direct comparison with the Boeing sale.

The size of the deal does suggest the year ahead will see a trove of orders, not only for the single-aisle jets but also for long-haul widebody aircraft.

And this month, more orders have begun to pour in to both planemakers as world air travel recovers from the pandemic.

Production hampered

Still, for both manufacturers, the priority for now is less on orders and more on the pace of production that is hampered by post-pandemic labor and parts shortages.

The end of 2022 saw a frantic delivery pace that eased off in January, especially at Airbus.

The European giant delivered 98 jets in December, including 76 of its single-aisle A320neo family. In January, it delivered just 20 jets total, of which 14 were in the A320neo family.

Airbus also delivered two smaller A220 models, one widebody A330neo and one widebody A350.

Airbus has struggled with supply chain issues, arousing concern that it could miss the target of 700 deliveries in 2023, as it did last year with a disappointing total of only 661 aircraft delivered.

Reuters reported Monday that Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury, in a Feb. 8 internal webcast with managers, was "furious" at the January delivery performance, calling it a "wake-up call."

Boeing delivered 69 jets in December, including 53 of its single-aisle 737 MAXs. In January, it delivered 38 jets total: 35 MAXs and three widebody 787 Dreamliners.

A dozen of those MAXs went to one customer: Southwest Airlines.

The Boeing delivery figures include not only jets newly rolled out of the factory but also MAXs and 787s that have been parked for some time during extended grounding and have now been reworked and cleared for delivery.

Boeing does not disclose how many deliveries are in each of those categories. However, data posted online by blogger Uresh Sheth, who reliably tracks Dreamliner deliveries, shows that all three 787s delivered in January were from inventory; one had initially rolled out of the factory in 2019 and the other two did so in 2020.

And 737 MAX production seems to have steadied.

Sheth's data identifies 31 of the MAX deliveries as newly built, which fits with Boeing's assertion that it is trying to stabilize MAX production at 31 jets per month. That implies the remaining four MAX deliveries were likely from the parked inventory.

For Boeing, struggling to reach stability at the Renton assembly plant, delivering 31 MAXs last month is reassuring.

But the absence of any 767 or 777 deliveries from the Everett widebody jet plant is notable, as well as the fact that no newly built 787s were delivered off that jet's final assembly line in North Charleston, South Carolina.

Though Boeing celebrated delivery of the final 747 jumbo jet on Jan. 31, it didn't fly off until the next day; that delivery will be counted in the February tally.

Airbus finished January, before the Air India deal, with an official backlog of 7,255 jets still to deliver. The A320neo jet family backlog stood at 6,081 jets.

However, those Airbus figures include an undisclosed number of orders that it no longer considers firm, while Boeing takes such orders out of its public total.

Boeing finished January with an official backlog of 4,585 jets. The 737 MAX backlog stood at 3,609 jets.

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