Boeing (NYSE: BA) ended a miserable year positively, with the return of the 737 MAX fueling an increase in deliveries and propelling the aerospace giant to its best quarter of 2020.
The company reported 39 military and commercial deliveries in December, 27 of them 737 MAX planes. American Airlines Group took 10 of them and United Airlines Holdings it took eight, in the early stages of work through a portfolio of more than 400 planes that were assembled during the 20 months that the 737 MAX was grounded.
Image source: Boeing.
The 737, including MAX and other variants, represents more than 75% of Boeing’s order book, and the return of the plane meant an increase in deliveries. The company delivered only 118 jets between January and November.
It delivered 59 commercial aircraft throughout the fourth quarter, 37% of the company’s total 157 aircraft in 2020.
The return of the 737 MAX was the highlight, but there were also worrying signs. For the second consecutive month, Boeing did not deliver 787 Dreamliners, ending the year with just four deliveries of 787 during the fourth quarter. Dreamliner has been plagued by its own quality problems and has seen demand plummet as airlines slow international flights due to the pandemic.
By comparison, Airbus delivered 566 aircraft in the year, down from the record 863 deliveries in 2019.
Boeing enters 2021 looking to take advantage of the delivery momentum of the 737 MAX, while reducing production of the 787 and other larger wide-body aircraft. The company hopes to gradually increase production of the 737 MAX to more than 30 per month in early 2022, well below the more than 50 fuselages it hoped to build each month before the grounding and the pandemic.
The 737 order book stood at 4,031 at the end of the year, compared with Airbus’ 5,885 orders for the comparable A320 family.