Airbus Soars Past Boeing With June Jet Order Surge and Strong Deliveries

Thanks to a single mammoth order at last month's Paris Air Show, Airbus flew far past Boeing in sales at the half-year mark.

While Boeing added 288 net orders in June, Airbus raked in 902 net orders for the month, including the record-breaking order for 500 of its single-aisle A320 jet family aircraft from Indian low-cost carrier Indigo.

Though both manufacturers logged stronger jet delivery totals in June than in recent months, by that measure too Airbus still remains firmly ahead of its U.S. rival.

Airbus delivered 72 airplanes in June. Boeing, still slogging through rework necessitated by a continuing series of production glitches, delivered 60.

Halfway through the year, Airbus has delivered 316 commercial jets and won 1,044 net orders. Boeing has delivered 266 commercial jets and has won 415 net orders.

One production glitch after another

Working to regain momentum in jet deliveries and production, Boeing has struggled this year with a series of setbacks.

The latest, a railway bridge collapse in Montana just over two weeks ago, has interfered with the flow of 737 Max fuselage deliveries from Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kan., that arrive by train at Boeing's Renton assembly plant.

Boeing has had to offload the Max fuselages from the railcars onto trucks, drive them for 6 miles on Interstate 90 around the break in the rail line, then load them onto another train.

It is expected to take weeks to repair the bridge and restore the rail connection. But with the trucking workaround, Boeing is pressing on.

"We are working closely with officials to minimize local disruption caused by the bridge collapse," Boeing said in a statement. "Production and deliveries continue, and we don't expect that this issue will change our full-year guidance."

Earlier setbacks were self-inflicted quality lapses either at Boeing or in its supply chain.

Max deliveries were held up in April when out-of-tolerance gaps were discovered in metal fittings that attach the jet's vertical tail fin to the fuselage.

In June, Boeing delivered 48 Maxes, up from 17 in April and 35 in May. About 220 of the jets remain in inventory.

Having delivered 211 Maxes in the first half of the year, Boeing is sticking to its guidance that it will deliver 400 to 450 Maxes by year end.

Airbus in June delivered 57 of the rival A320 jet family, plus six smaller single-aisle A220s.

In early June, Boeing found a nonconformance in a fitting in the horizontal tail of its 787 Dreamliner widebody jet that has to be reworked. That's on top of all the rework needed on stored 787s due to unacceptable gaps at multiple fuselage joins.

More than 80 undelivered 787s remain to be reworked. The work progresses steadily but slowly. In June, Boeing delivered six Dreamliners.

Boeing is maintaining its delivery target for the year of 70 to 80 Dreamliners. It delivered 31 in the first half of the year.

And 767 deliveries have been held up all year by discovery of a potential contamination problem in the center fuel tank due to a poor manufacturing process.

Boeing said Monday it has now completed rework on all the affected 767-based KC-46 tankers it's building for the Air Force.

In June, Boeing finally handed off its first KC-46 tanker this year to its defense division, which will install its military systems before delivering the plane to the Air Force.

For both manufacturers, raising jet production and delivery rates is the focus as worldwide demand is soaring.

Since Paris, Airbus has announced a couple more orders.

This month, Icelandair placed a firm order for 13 of the upcoming ultra-long-range A321XLR model, as the airline moves to replace the Boeing 757s it flies transatlantic.

Mexican ultra-low-cost airline Viva Aerobus signed a memorandum of understanding for 90 A321neos.

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