Boeing sales tumble as the company gets no orders for the 737 Max for the second straight month
Boeing sales tumble as the company gets no orders for the 737 Max for the second straight month
FILE - A Boeing 737 Max jet prepares to land at Boeing Field following a test flight in Seattle, Sept. 30, 2020. Boeing had another weak month for aircraft sales in May 2024, taking orders for just four new planes. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)
FILE - In this photo taken with a fish-eye lens, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 airplane sits on the assembly line during a brief media tour in Boeing’s 737 assembly facility in Renton, Wash., March 27, 2019. Boeing had another weak month for aircraft sales in May 2024, taking orders for just four new planes. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
FILE - The Boeing logo is seen, Jan. 25, 2011, on the property in El Segundo, Calif. Boeing had another weak month for aircraft sales in May 2024, taking orders for just four new planes. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)
FILE - A Boeing 737 Max jet prepares to land at Boeing Field following a test flight in Seattle, Sept. 30, 2020. Boeing had another weak month for aircraft sales in May 2024, taking orders for just four new planes. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)
FILE - A Boeing 737 Max jet prepares to land at Boeing Field following a test flight in Seattle, Sept. 30, 2020. Boeing had another weak month for aircraft sales in May 2024, taking orders for just four new planes. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)
FILE - In this photo taken with a fish-eye lens, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 airplane sits on the assembly line during a brief media tour in Boeing’s 737 assembly facility in Renton, Wash., March 27, 2019. Boeing had another weak month for aircraft sales in May 2024, taking orders for just four new planes. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
FILE - In this photo taken with a fish-eye lens, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 airplane sits on the assembly line during a brief media tour in Boeing’s 737 assembly facility in Renton, Wash., March 27, 2019. Boeing had another weak month for aircraft sales in May 2024, taking orders for just four new planes. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
FILE - The Boeing logo is seen, Jan. 25, 2011, on the property in El Segundo, Calif. Boeing had another weak month for aircraft sales in May 2024, taking orders for just four new planes. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)
FILE - The Boeing logo is seen, Jan. 25, 2011, on the property in El Segundo, Calif. Boeing had another weak month for aircraft sales in May 2024, taking orders for just four new planes. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)
Boeing received orders for only four new planes in May — and for the second straight month, none for its best-selling 737 Max, as fallout continues from the blowout of a side panel on a Max during a flight in January.
The results released Tuesday compared unfavorably with Europe’s Airbus, which reported net orders for 15 planes in May — 27 sales but 12 cancellations.
Boeing also saw Aerolineas Argentinas cancel an order for a single Max jet, bringing its net sales for the month to three.
Shares of The Boeing Co. fell 3% in afternoon trading.
The dismal results followed poor figures for April, when Boeing reported seven sales — none of them for the Max.
Boeing hopes that the slow pace of orders reflects a lull in sales before next month’s Farnborough International Airshow, where aircraft deals are often announced.
But the Federal Aviation Administration is capping Boeing’s production of 737s after a door plug blew out from an Alaska Airlines Max, allegations by whistleblowers that Boeing has taken shortcuts to produce planes more quickly, and reports of falsified inspection records on some 787 Dreamliner jets.
Boeing, based in Arlington, Virginia, delivered 24 jetliners in May, including 19 Max jets. Ireland’s Ryanair got four and Alaska Airlines took three. Airbus said it delivered 53 planes last month.
Despite the slow pace of recent sales, Boeing still has a huge backlog of more than 5,600 orders.