Boeing delivered 60 jets in June despite supplier’s strike

Boeing Co. delivered 60 jets in June, including 49 of its best-selling 737 models, beating analyst expectations even as it contended with a strike at a key supplier and manufacturing defects. 

The tally boosted the US planemaker’s total handovers for the second quarter to 136 jets, 12% more than a year earlier. Analysts had expected Boeing to deliver about 112 commercial aircraft, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, after shipments dipped in April and May as it addressed a supplier defect in its 737 jets.

The manufacturer booked 304 gross orders in June, the most in nearly a decade, against 16 cancellations. The order haul includes several deals finalized at the Paris Air Show that Boeing had unveiled previously, including a 230-jet sale to Air India and a Riyadh Air order for 39 of its 787 Dreamliners. Gulf carrier Emirates renegotiated contracts involving 16 aircraft, causing the original 777X orders to be canceled and rebooked as sales last month. 

While it was one of the best monthly sales results in Boeing company history, arch-rival Airbus SE scored an even larger bonanza, recording 902 gross orders for its highest monthly total in at least 20 years. Boeing shares rose 1.1% at 12:33 p.m. in New York.

Investors are scrutinizing efforts by Boeing and its European rival to address labor shortages and supplier lapses that have restricted deliveries at a time when demand for new jets is booming. Airbus, the world’s largest planemaker, delivered 316 aircraft during the first half of the year, compared with 266 at Boeing.

Boeing delivered 216 of its 737 family models during that period, staying on track to meet the company’s full-year target of shipping between 400 and 450 of the workhorse jets, a crucial source of cash. Executives have hinted that preparations are under way to soon hike output of the narrowbody to a 38-jet monthly pace. 

The US manufacturer rolled out 40 of its 737 jets from its Seattle-area factory last month, according to Aero Analysis Partners/AIR, which tracks production at the planemaker. That’s well above the narrowbody jet’s 31-jets a month production pace, although the total may have been boosted by aircraft that had been repaired for the supplier glitch, according to a July 10 report from Sheila Kahyaoglu, an analyst at Jefferies.