Boeing delivered more commercial planes last month than at any other point this year, the company announced Tuesday, following delays in production and deliveries for the aerospace firm, which has faced increased scrutiny since a metal door plug flew off an Alaska Airlines 737 earlier this year.
The embattled aerospace firm has said it would expand production through the year after facing ... [+]
Boeing delivered 44 planes in June, including 35 aircraft from the company’s 737 Max model and three 787 Dreamliners, among others, according to data released by the company Tuesday.
The Federal Aviation Administration capped Boeing’s monthly 737 Max deliveries at 38 earlier this year, a restriction that regulators won’t remove until Boeing proves the company has improved oversight on manufacturing.
This is Boeing’s highest monthly total for deliveries since the company delivered 67 planes in December, and marks a slight increase in second-quarter deliveries (92) over its first-quarter total (83).
Despite the quarterly increase, Boeing still trails Airbus for the most commercial aircraft delivered so far this year, after the European aerospace firm announced 67 deliveries for June on Monday, bringing the company’s delivery total this year to 323 planes.
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Boeing will release its second-quarter financial results on July 31.
Production of Boeing’s planes has slowed down in recent months due to scrutiny over safety incidents, including a metal door plug that flew off one of Alaska Airlines’ 737 Max planes in January. The company has received fewer aircraft orders since January, including just four orders for new planes in May. That month also marked the second-straight month for Boeing receiving zero orders for its best-selling 737 Max. Boeing CEO David Calhoun has accepted responsibility for the company’s manufacturing woes, saying Boeing was “accountable for what happened” during the Alaska Airlines incident. The FAA has said it was “processing a number of reports” from whistleblowers, including a claim that Boeing hid faulty plane parts from regulators. The issue has had “limited to no impact” on deliveries, Boeing said.
Earlier this week, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges stemming from two fatal 737 Max plane crashes, which killed 346 people in 2018 and 2019. In the fallout from the crashes, Boeing reached a multibillion-dollar settlement with prosecutors who said the company misled regulators about the planes’ safety, but the government later accused Boeing of violating that deal, setting the stage for new charges. As part of the new deal with the Justice Department, Boeing will pay a maximum fine of $487.2 million and invest a further $455 million over the next three years to improve its compliance and safety programs.