Boeing Deliveries Drop As 787 Program Remains On Pause

Disclosing its latest delivery figures on Tuesday, US planemaker Boeing disclosed that it delivered 27 aircraft to its customers last month. Unfortunately, the company’s 787 deliveries remain on hold as it continues to work with regulators on production issues. Let’s take a look at which airlines received new Boeing aircraft during the month of October.

Final assembly of the 787 now takes place exclusively at the company’s facilities in South Carolina. Photo: Getty Images

27 aircraft delivered

Disclosing its October delivery figures this week, Boeing delivered 27 aircraft to 14 customers. Customers include cargo operators such as FedEx and UPS, as well as military (US and Norwegian defense forces) and VIPs.

Taking delivery of the most aircraft last month was European budget operator Ryanair. The all-737 carrier accepted six 737 MAX jets into its already massive fleet of high-density narrowbody aircraft. All other customers took delivery of just one or two aircraft.

Other interesting deliveries include one 747-8F to UPS and a 767-300F to FedEx Express.

Despite four freighters being delivered, it was really the 737 that dominated Boeing’s deliveries. In addition to the aforementioned six to Ryanair, the planemaker delivered 737 MAX jets to airlines like Aeromexico, Air Canada, TUI, Turkish Airlines, and United Airlines. Several 737s also went to leasing companies AerCap and CDB Aviation. Outside of the commercial realm, a modified 737-800, known as the P-8 Poseidon, went to the Norwegian military.

Ryanair is steadily taking delivery of 737 MAX aircraft. Photo: Ryanair

Sadly, Boeing’s overall delivery numbers are down from September, which saw 35 aircraft go to customers during the month. Just like October, September’s deliveries were dominated by the 737 MAX. This included seven 737 MAX jets delivered to Ryanair and five MAXs to Turkish Airlines.

No 787s delivered

Unfortunately, Boeing’s 787s remain on hold. Indeed, the company’s unfilled orders report shows a total of 488 Dreamliners (across all three variants) still undelivered.

American Airlines is among the airlines with the largest unfilled orders, waiting for 25 -9 jets. According to CNBC, the carrier’s Chief Revenue Officer, Vasu Raja, deliveries of these jets will determine the airline’s pace of international expansion. “It’s a pretty meaningful impact to how fast we can build back internationally,” Raja said to CNBC.

American Airlines’ international expansion plans will be determined by the progress of Dreamliner deliveries. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

Lufthansa and Emirates are also individual carriers with a large number of outstanding orders, with 25 and 30, respectively. Both airlines have chosen the -9 variant. Unlike American Airlines, however, these two international carriers aren’t expecting their 787s for quite some time, although Lufthansa has already disclosed that it will deploy its first Dreamliner on a Frankfurt-Toronto service in 2022.

Hopefully Boeing can resume Dreamliner output soon. This will, of course, depend on the progress it makes with the FAA. At the start of September, Boeing offered the following statement to Simple Flying on its 787 situation:

“…Boeing is committed to providing full transparency to our regulators and working with the FAA through the rigorous process to resume 787 deliveries. We have engaged with the FAA on this issue in meetings and working sessions over hundreds of hours and will continue to do so…”

What do you think of Boeing’s November deliveries? Let us know by leaving a comment.

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