Boeing 737 MAX airplanes are pictured in front of a Boeing factory March 25, 2024 in Renton, Washington.
Stephen Brashear | Getty Images
Boeing Aircraft deliveries fell in the first quarter as the company faces increased scrutiny after a door plug exploded from one of its 737 Max 9s mid-flight in January.
The company delivered 83 planes in the quarter ended March 31, most of them 737s, compared to 157 in the previous quarter and 130 planes in the year-ago period. In March alone, Boeing delivered 29 planes.
Boeing customers are still ordering new planes from the manufacturer which, with Airbus, dominates the market for large airliners. The company booked orders for 111 new planes last month by clearing two cancellations, including 85 737 Max planes for American airlineswhat the carrier announced in early March.
The latest tally comes after the Jan. 5 crash of Alaska Airlines plane 1282 brought Boeing inches from disaster. Federal accident investigators said the bolts that held the door stopper in place were missing. Since the accident, the Federal Aviation Administration has inspected production of Boeing’s 737 Max and barred the planemaker from increasing production of those planes until it approves its quality control procedures.
Boeing executives said the company was slowing production to improve quality control and avoid so-called on-the-go work, when repairs or other tasks happen out of order.
“We’re not going to rush or move too fast,” Boeing Chief Financial Officer Brian West said at a Bank of America conference last month. “In fact, we’re going to deliberately slow down to get this right. And we’re the ones who made the decision to limit the 737 program rates below 38 per month until we feel ready. And we We will feel the impact of this over the coming months.
The plane delivery delays have drawn criticism from CEOs of some of Boeing’s largest airline customers, and in the process, CEO Dave Calhoun announced last month that he would resign by the end of the year. Boeing also replaced its chairman of the board and the head of its commercial aircraft unit.
Alaska Airlines announced last week that it received $160 million in compensation from Boeing in the first quarter following a brief grounding of the plane after the accident.
Boeing is expected to report first-quarter results and update investors on April 24.
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