Boeing’s sales took a hit in May, with no orders for its best-selling 737 Max for the second consecutive month, according to results released on Tuesday.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The company received orders for only four new planes, a stark contrast to Europe’s Airbus, which reported net orders for 15 planes, factoring in 27 sales and 12 cancellations.
The dismal sales report also included Aerolineas Argentinas cancelling an order for a single Max jet, bringing Boeing’s net sales for the month down to three. In response, shares of The Boeing Co. fell by 3% in afternoon trading.
This downturn follows a poor performance in April, when Boeing reported seven sales, none of which were for the Max. The company is hopeful that this lull is temporary, anticipating that next month’s Farnborough International Airshow will bring new aircraft deals.
However, several issues are impacting Boeing’s production and sales.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is capping the production of 737s after a door plug incident on an Alaska Airlines Max and ongoing allegations from whistleblowers regarding production shortcuts.
Additionally, there have been reports of falsified inspection records on some 787 Dreamliner jets.
Despite these challenges, Boeing, based in Arlington, Virginia, delivered 24 jetliners in May, including 19 Max jets.
Among the deliveries, Ireland’s Ryanair received four, and Alaska Airlines took three. In comparison, Airbus reported 53 plane deliveries for the same period.
Despite the recent slow sales, Boeing still maintains a substantial backlog of more than 5,600 orders.
Recently, Boeing CEO David Calhoun faced intense scrutiny during his first appearance before the US Congress since the Alaska Airlines incident in January.
Missouri Senator Josh Hawley grilled Calhoun about his substantial salary increase of 45% from 2022, questioning the appropriateness of such a raise given the company’s ongoing safety and transparency issues