Boeing delivered 180 fewer commercial aircraft in 2024 than 2023 after a torrid year which began with a door plug separating from an Alaska Airline 737-9 midflight.
On January 14, 2025, Boeing confirmed that 348 passenger jets were delivered to customers last year including just 57 in the final quarter.
In 2023, a total of 528 commercial planes were handed over to operators, with 157 delivered in the final quarter.
On January 9, 2025, Airbus announced that it had delivered 766 commercial aircraft to 86 customers around the world during 2024.
Boeing has faced one of the most difficult years in its history and the significant drop in deliveries was well expected.
After the Alaska Airlines incident on January 5, 2024, the US planemaker’s entire production structure was called into question after it appeared that uninstalled bolts caused the door plug to separate from a 737-9.
Whistleblowers came forward revealing worrying practices, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) launched a far-reaching investigation and limited aircraft production numbers at Boeing and the CEO Dave Calhoun was replaced by Kelly Ortberg.
To make matters worse, 30,000 Boeing workers walked out for seven-weeks in September 2024 over their pay and employment conditions.
Even when workers returned to work Boeing spent a full month post-strike making sure the necessary safety steps were taken before restarting production.
The head of the FAA Mike Whitaker said in December 2024 that “enhanced oversight” of Boeing is “here to stay”.
Boeing also saw its orders fall last year with 1,456 secured in 2023 and only 569 in 2024.
