Boeing has a lot on its plate right now, but on the plus side, it reached its delivery goals for 2023, while orders were quite strong, too.
The second week of the new year is usually the time when aircraft manufacturers announce how they did the year before. 2024 is no different – except for the elephant in the room, that is Alaska Flight 1282.
That’s a shame, because Boeing had a strong second half in 2023, recovering much of its early losses. We have seen that Boeing had two quality control issues with its 737 MAX production last year, affecting spring and summer deliveries.
These problems caused Boeing to revise its delivery targets for 737s downward. Originally, Boeing wanted to deliver 400 to 450 737s in 2023. Its problems caused it to revise this to 375 single-aisle aircraft.
Boeing – 2023 Performance and Beyond?
In the end, Boeing got really close to reaching its original minimum goal of 400 deliveries, surpassing the revised number. The final 2023 delivery tally is 396 737s of all types, including military variants.
Boeing also delivered 73 787s in 2023. Its goal was between 70 and 80 aircraft. The American manufacturer delivered 528 aircraft of all types last year. In 2022, it delivered 480 aircraft in total.
As for new aircraft orders, again we saw that Boeing had a solid performance in the last quarter of the year. The 2023 Dubai Airshow in November went well for Boeing, and December featured decent orders as well.
In total, Boeing got orders for 1,314 aircraft last year, after cancellations and modifications (net). In 2022 it only got 774 net orders. This seems like a respectable increase, but it means little without a look at the competition.
Airbus will announce its own 2023 numbers soon – later this week. We already know that the European manufacturer is on course to break some all-time order records. Industry sources place its 2023 deliveries at over 730, its target being 720.
We will also learn what Boeing’s 2024 targets are, later this month. But given other events, possibly including a lot of public scrutiny on quality control and other aspects of Boeing’s production, perhaps we shouldn’t expect the manufacturer to focus on production increases.
