Boeing out delivers Airbus in January

According to our estimates, Boeing wins January's delivery race. We have been waiting to write this for a long time. Here's hoping that the news from Boeing remains more upbeat than it's been for the last several years. The table is based on our production and delivery tracker. Note that we are already seeing February deliveries being made. [caption id="attachment_89547" align="aligncenter" width="640"] AirInsight[/caption] The red colors reflect high numbers. Boeing's January performance is the highest in our model for the OEM. Glancing through the 2024 numbers, we can see how tough the year was. Those "quality escapes" were awful, and ending the year with a strike opened the wound even more. Boeing is in dire need of healing and better news. Things are happening. And we see good news. The OEM's official numbers will be published in mid-February. Cynics will point out that the 44 deliveries are mostly not new production. So, let's examine the details. [caption id="attachment_89548" align="aligncenter" width="640"] AirInsight[/caption] The left-hand table lists deliveries, and the right-hand table lists delivery days. In January, United took eight deliveries, Southwest took five, and several other customers took multiple deliveries. The colors reflect two items we want to highlight. The yellow reflects aging deliveries that sometimes date back to the original MAX ground. The GOL delivery is an ex-Southwest airplane. There has to be a backstory there. The other yellow aircraft are mainly destined for China. Getting these Chinese airplanes delivered is essential. The Chinese market cannot depend on COMAC to close the capacity gap. The green airplanes each have a story. The Allegiant was caught up in the strike and lingered unnecessarily. The TAAG airplane was initially destined for MIAT in Mongolia. It was then repainted in Riyadh colors and shown off at the Dunbai show a few years ago. Boeing's marketing team managed to get a deal with TAAG. Several ex-Norwegian 787s are looking for new operators. Lufthansa seems to have acquired three of them, likely at a discount. Bottom Line The bottom line is that even as some of the inventory ages, Boeing manages to find customers. The global demand for capacity provides a helpful environment for this effort. Up to 34 of the MAX deliveries appear to be almost new builds. The FAA's limit of 38 is likely to be tested sooner than many of us expected. Boeing is off to a great start in 2025. Here's hoping they keep this pace up. It helps the supply chain, and yes, it helps Airbus, too.

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