By Valerie Insinna
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Boeing deliveries rose to 56 airplanes in November as the company rebounded from a 737 manufacturing defect, putting the planemaker within striking distance of its annual targets.
Deliveries for last month were the highest since June and included 45 737 MAXs and one P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, Boeing said, confirming a Reuters report from last week.
The company also delivered two 777 freighters, two 767s, and six 787 Dreamliners.
Boeing now sits eight Dreamliners away from its annual delivery goal of at least 70 units, and 24 narrowbody 737s away from its revised target for at least 375 single-aisle jets.
If Boeing delivers 49 737s in December – a number the company beat in the same month of 2022 – it will hit its original goal of at least 400 narrowbody jets.
Chief Financial Officer Brian West said in October that 737 deliveries would pick back up in November and December after resolving a supplier error, which required Boeing to conduct lengthy inspections of 737s coming off the production line and in its inventory.
The company booked 114 gross orders in November, dominated by a deal with Emirates for 90 widebody 777Xs announced during the Dubai Airshow last month. Unidentified customers canceled a total of 10 737 orders, leaving Boeing with 104 net orders for the month.
Boeing’s gross orders since the start of January rose to 1,085 units, or 945 net orders after factoring in cancellations and conversions and 1,207 net orders after accounting adjustments.
The company’s backlog increased to 5,324 in November.
Airbus has won 1,512 orders so far this year or a net total of 1,395 after cancellations, the company said last week.
(Reporting by Valerie Insinna; Editing by Michael Perry)
