Boeing released its November figures for orders and deliveries on December 14th, revealing 109 gross orders for the month, thanks to the lucrative Akasa Air deal at the Dubai Air Show. With gross orders of more than 800 airplanes until now, Boeing has had a much better year compared to the miserable 2020.
Buoyed by Akasa
The American airplane manufacturer’s gross orders jumped from 10 in October to 109 in November, helped by the Dubai Air Show. After months of speculation, India’s ultra-low-cost startup airline Akasa Air placed an order of 72 737 MAX airplanes last month, giving Boeing the much-needed lifeline in the country’s narrowbody market. Valued at nearly $9 billion, Akasa’s aircraft deal forms the bulk of Boeing’s November orders.
Other orders included 30 737 MAX jets from Miami-based 777 Partners and another seven from Southwest Airlines. There were 18 cancellations or conversions, bringing Boeing’s net order tally for November to 91 airplanes.
Last month’s orders were made up entirely of the single-aisle MAX with no widebodies, a sign that airlines are still treading carefully with their long-haul plans in a post-pandemic world.
Gross orders for the year so far stood at 829, with year-to-date net orders of 457 after cancellations and conversions. 2021 has been a far better year for Boeing than 2020, when the company only managed to get gross orders for 184 airplanes. Much of it also has to do with the return of the 737 MAX jetliner after a nearly two-year ban.
Deliveries
Boeing pushed out 34 airplanes last month, with most of them again being the 737 MAXs. European low-cost carrier Ryanair was the biggest customer, receiving 10 MAX airplanes, followed by Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, flydubai, and SMBC Aviation Capital at three each.
On the widebodies side, three 767s left the planemaker’s factories, two of them being the freighter version for FedEx and UPS. One 747-8 was released for an unidentified customer.
Compared to the first 11 months of last year, Boeing has more than doubled its deliveries at 302 airplanes; it delivered 118 through November in 2020.
No Dreamliners delivered
Production issues of the 787s continue to reflect on Boeing’s delivery data, with still no sign of the Dreamliners leaving the factory. Boeing has had to rework and reassemble parts of the aircraft after FAA raised concerns with its inspection methods.
The delay in the airplane’s delivery has taken a toll on some carriers’ schedules. American Airlines has had to cut international flights in the summer of 2022, citing 787 delays. As many as 13 Dreamliners were slated to be in American’s fleet by this winter, and the carrier has scaled back its long-haul summer schedule.
India’s Vistara has also had to delay the launch of its US flights multiple times over the past few months as it has only received two of the 787s from a total of six aircraft it had ordered.
Hopefully, these issues will be resolved soon, and Boeing can add the widebody to its delivery data in the coming months.
