Boeing Delivers 348 Planes In 2024

Boeing has announced deliveries of 348 commercial aircraft across 2024, making this one of its worst-performing years since the pandemic.

The planemaker had yet another challenging year with production rates being capped, significant quality issues, staff turnover and strike action.

All these factors have contributed to Boeing’s inability to produce planes at the rate it desires to be financially stable and meet demand.

December 2024 saw just 30 planes delivered, but it was an important month as the planemaker was formally able to restart production, albeit at a limited rate, for its popular 737 MAX, following strike action coming to a close.

Generally, however, Boeing’s inability to deliver commercial airplanes on time is having a colossal knock-on effect on the industry, with airline customers now unable to take delivery of the planes they need on time.

As a result, airlines have switched to short-term lease arrangements to mitigate some of the capacity loss or sought compensation from the planemaker, in this case, Boeing, to try and limit financial strain.

2024 was initially earmarked as an essential calendar year where much improvement and stability were expected. But, when a door blew out of a 737 MAX one week in, it became clear that the year would be anything but smooth.

While deliveries lacked, Boeing was able to report 569 gross orders, which, following adjustments, came in at 377 net orders; this was down from the 826 net orders seen at Airbus, again highlighting the sheer differing position the two leading aerospace manufacturers find themselves in.

Boeing Falls Behind Airbus

Furthermore, the 348 deliveries represented a staggering gap between itself and competitor Airbus, who were able to deliver 766 commercial airplanes.

While Airbus didn’t see a door blowout, strike action, leadership changes, production caps, or other challenges, it still had supply chain difficulties.

Therefore, the sheer gap between the two plane makers highlights just how much work Boeing needs to do to ensure it can even come close to retaining the title of the largest planemaker in the world.

This tally between the two plane makers has only kept widening as Boeing reported some of its lowest deliveries in years. In contrast, Airbus also increased its performance thanks to stability across divisions.

For Boeing to stand any chance at stabilising in 2025, they must show meaningful change to their business and implement a genuinely new culture that focuses on safety and quality.

Suppose Boeing can show these improvements, most notably to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which has been overseeing their operation. In that case, production tallies may be able to increase from their relatively low and unsustainable rates.