Chinese airlines give Boeing an unexpected boost with more 737 Max deliveries

China’s airlines are stepping up deliveries of Boeing Co. 737 Max jets at an opportune time for the reeling US planemaker, whose commercial activity had been largely frozen in one of its largest international markets until recently.

China Southern, Air China and Kunming Airlines are either flying or preparing to ferry newly acquired Boeing 737 from Seattle on Wednesday, according to FlightAware. The airlines filed plans bearing their own flight codes for journeys to Honolulu, the first stop across the Pacific and an indication they’ve already taken possession of the Max aircraft from Boeing.

The delivery flurry comes a week after a China Southern 737 Max took wing over the Pacific, ending a nearly five-year halt to imports of Boeing’s workhorse jets. Analysts and the planemaker’s executives increasingly think China’s airlines could be a “catalyst for Boeing to burn off its inventory” of undelivered jets this year, said Sheila Kahyaoglu of Jefferies.

“The first deliveries to China potentially open the way for additional approvals and an acceleration,” the analyst said in a note to clients Wednesday following Boeing’s earnings call. But she noted one worrying sign: the number of Max scheduled to go to China this year fell by more than 50% in just the past week, to 31 aircraft.

Such deliveries — if they continue — figure to be an important source of cash for Boeing at a time when its production of new models is uncertain amid a quality crackdown by US regulators and irate customers. Both have vowed to send teams of auditors into Boeing’s factories after a new Alaska Airlines Max suffered a near-catastrophic blowout earlier this month.

China has an incentive to pick up the narrowbody jets as domestic travel rebounds from Covid, and with US presidential candidate Donald Trump threatening a harsh crackdown on trade if he takes office next year.

When asked during the earnings call if China is “officially, fully, 100% taking deliveries,” Boeing Chief Executive Officer Dave Calhoun responded: “One at a time. And yes.”

Boeing has around 140 Max 8 models that were built before 2023 in its storage lots, with many of them bound for customers in China and India. Clearing them is a priority for the planemaker. It takes Boeing more time and effort to modify and repair the already-built planes than to assemble new models, Brian West, Boeing’s chief financial officer, told analysts on Wednesday’s earnings call.

“We still expect to deliver most of these airplanes by year-end as we work toward shutting down the shadow factory,” West said, referring to the thousands of company mechanics working to refurbish rather than build its jets.