Boeing 787 Order Cancelled

Boeing has confirmed an order cancellation for its 787 Dreamliner, while also publishing its monthly orders and deliveries report for July 2025.

The cancellation comes for one lone unit from The Republic of Iraq, and reduces their commitment for future aircraft to seven.

The adjustment of an order backlog is not uncommon; this typically occurs throughout the industry and can take place for a host of reasons, all dependent on the specific set of circumstances at the customer.

Overall, however, there were 31 gross orders booked in the month, the largest portion coming from the 737 MAX with 30 units ordered, a lone 787 ordered as well, bringing the total to 31.

739 net orders have therefore been secured in the year to date, a strong perfromance for the business with renewed confidence among airlines to purchase Boeing products.

The orders mean the backlog has also increased and now stands at 5,968. To meet this, the continued stabilisation of the business must occur following investigations into the quality and safety procedures.

Deliveries At Boeing Fall

Despite reporting some new orders, alongside a cancellation, deliveries for Boeing during the month fell as the planemaker trails its competitor, Airbus, across 2025 once more.

Just 48 aircraft were delivered to customers across July, which does represent a decrease of 12 units from the 60 that were handed off in a highly successful June.

However, 48 aircraft is also five more than the figure reported for the same month one year prior and also signifies the highest delivery count in July for around eight years, showing meaningful progress is being made in the right direction.

To the surprise of no one, the 737 MAX led the way for deliveries. This is the most important part of the backlog concerning total units, with 37 units delivered, 20 heading to lessors and 17 directly to airline customers.

Additionally, there were deliveries for one 767 freighter, two of the 777 freighters and in a busy month for the next-generation 787, eight units were shipped off in this series.

In the year to date, Boeing has delivered 328 aircraft to customers. This is shy of Airbus, which has shipped off 373. Airbus would consider the year thus far to be a disappointment, given its guidance of 820 deliveries in 2025 under current delivery rates.

While Airbus lays out delivery targets on an annual basis, and typically misses them based on recent track records, Boeing does not set targets for the year; instead, it has been focused on repairing its production and thus output levels.

Moreover, Boeing still battles with production caps on its most crucial product, the 737 MAX, which means output cannot reach the levels intended several years ago.

What’s Next For Boeing?

In the coming months, Kelly Ortbeg, the CEO of Boeing, has made his intentions clear to seek approval to begin increasing output rates for the 737 MAX.

With a cap on the production of the series following a door blowout incident in January 2024 aboard a 737 MAX, the FAA has imposed restrictions ever since to enhance oversight of the business.

However, with the MAX being so important to not just the day-to-day operation and working through the backlog but fundamentally the financial performance of the planemaker, these restrictions have had a profound impact.

Ortbeg says while the intention is to increase output rates on the popular single-aisle jet, there will be no rush to have this take place, with incremental increases planned in a bid to ensure quality remains of the highest standards and the critical work which has been undertaken is not undone.