Boeing Makes Huge Announcement

2025 continues to be a pivotal year in the recovery of Boeing, with a huge announcement being made.

57 new commercial aircraft were delivered in August by the planemaker, this was up from the 48 posted in July, and once more sets a record for the most deliveries in August for now, almost seven years, highlighting the recovery that is taking place.

However, for Boeing, what was bigger than the improvement from the last seven years in August was the ability to cross a key delivery milestone months in advance.

Now, Boeing has delivered at the end of August 2025 a total of 385 aircraft; as a result, this means the manufacturer has shipped off already more than the full-year total from 2024, when it was only able to deliver 348 aircraft.

For comparison, the 385 aircraft is short of the 434 aircraft that Airbus has delivered to date as of the end of August, closing the gap between the two planemakers, which has been large for some time due to the adversities faced by the American manufacturer.

What’s important to note is that while Airbus faces its own supply chain struggles just as Boeing does, the European planemaker does not face a production cap imposed by a regulator on its most important type, which is limiting delivery and output rates.

August was a big success for the 737 MAX, with the business delivering 42 of the popular single-aisle aircraft as it began working through its backlog and finally consistently meeting the production rate cap that the FAA has imposed.

Data shows that Ryanair and United Airlines were among the big winners during the month, with seven and six units being delivered, respectively, to these companies, which rely so strongly on the single-aisle program to drive their short-haul flying.

What continues to help Boeing as well is the recommencement of deliveries to China; with this suspension being lifted, the business can begin shipping its aircraft to eagerly awaiting customers.

For aircraft orders, there were 26 gross orders, primarily led by Cathay Pacific’s purchase of a further 14 of the upcoming long-haul jet, the 777X, with the 777-9 selected.

What About A Boeing 737 MAX Production Increase?

If Boeing wants to take its delivery figures to the next level and continue working through a backlog that sits in the thousands, it’ll need to grow production rates on the 737 MAX program fundamentally.

However, due to the many incidents that have occurred on this single-aisle type from 2018 through to as early as 2024, the Federal Aviation Administration has imposed a harsh restriction to cap production at 38 aircraft.

This move, accompanied by increased oversight, is being implemented to identify and address the systemic quality issues that persist.

While the FAA says it has launched dialogue with Boeing to test what production increases would look like to better understand the risks associated and find ways to prevent quality lapses from occurring, there’s much ground still to be made.

Most recently, the FAA confirmed that while it’s conducting its due diligence, it does not have in mind an immediate increase in production being granted for the MAX, as Boeing continues to take the necessary steps towards rebuilding its business and quality control.

It’s hard to dispute the comments from many airlines and lessors that progress has been made after they visited the production floor; however, at the end of the FAA’s review, it’s not yet at the level necessary for increases to be made confidently.