Boeing’s orders for jets bounced back strongly last year even as it lagged far behind rival Airbus in terms of deliveries of new aircraft.
Shares in the US plane maker rose 3 per cent in New York on Tuesday after it reported 909 gross orders in 2021 — more than double the tally of the two previous years combined. Net orders, after factoring in cancellations and conversions, stood at 535.
Rival Airbus on Monday reported 771 gross orders and 507 net.
About two-thirds of the planes sold by Boeing last year were variants of the 737 Max, which regulators grounded for almost two years after two fatal crashes.
The company also sold 84 freighters, reflecting huge demand for air freight during the coronavirus pandemic as consumers shifted online to order goods. Freighter traffic also increased because passenger aircraft that typically carried 50 per cent of airborne goods were grounded during the crisis.
In terms of deliveries, Boeing handed over 340 aircraft to airlines in 2021. Although this was more than twice the number of 157 in 2020, it was far below its record of 806 jets in 2018 and lower than that of Airbus, which delivered 611 jets last year.
The Airbus deliveries were driven by demand for its popular A320 family of single-aisle jets, which helped it retain its crown as the world’s largest plane maker for the third year in a row.
Despite the order bounce, Boeing faces a challenge to repair the damage wrought by the grounding of the 737 Max as well as the impact of the pandemic.
The company is working on raising production of the 737 Max after halting output in 2020. It is also wrestling with production challenges on the twin-aisle 787 Dreamliner.
Boeing has trailed Airbus in narrow-body sales since the grounding of the 737 Max, noted Ron Epstein, Bank of America analyst. Some industry watchers expect the Chicago-headquartered company to continue to lose market share to its arch-rival.
“A lot of that has to do with Boeing not having an aircraft to compete with the A321,” said Epstein.
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