Boeing deliveries fall by half in April due to 737 MAX bracket defect

BOC Aviation

09/05/2023 16:00

WASHINGTON, May 9 (Reuters) - Boeing Co  BA.N 
deliveries fell to 26 airplanes in April, less than half of the
previous month's total, after a manufacturing defect forced the
company to halt some shipments of its bestselling 737 MAX
passenger jet. 
    Deliveries of the MAX, which had climbed to 52 narrowbody
jets in March, dropped to 17 planes last month. 
    That left passenger jet deliveries for the U.S. planemaker
at their lowest level since July 2022, as well as below the 35
planes delivered last April. 
    Boeing booked 13 net orders after factoring in 21 cancelled
orders, including a sale-leaseback deal for three MAXs for
lessor BOC Aviation Ltd  2588.HK  for planes originally ordered
by Dominican Republic operator Arajet.
    In addition to the MAXs, Boeing also delivered six 787
Dreamliners, one 767 freighter, one 777 freighter and one
737-800 jet to its defense business to be converted into a P-8
Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft for South Korea. 
   Aircraft deliveries are closely watched by Wall Street
because planemakers are able to collect the majority of its
money when they hand over jets to customers. 
   The latest impediment to Boeing's deliveries involves two
brackets that connect the MAX's aft fuselage with its vertical
tail that were incorrectly installed by fuselage maker Spirit
AeroSystems Holdings Inc  SPR.N . 
    Boeing estimates that about 75% of the 225 MAXs in its
inventory have brackets that will need to be reinstalled before
customers can take possession of the jets.
   Boeing Chief Financial Officer Brian West told investors in
an earnings call last month that MAX deliveries would slow
through the second quarter, but then grow to about 40 jets per
month, with sequential quarterly improvement in the second half.
   Boeing has delivered 156 jets over the first four months of
2023, including 128 MAXs. Rival Airbus SE  AIR.PA  has not yet
released its April order and delivery statistics.

 (Reporting by Valerie Insinna in Washington; Editing by Jamie
Freed)
 ((Valerie.Insinna@thomsonreuters.com;))