After a disastrous January where Boeing basically sold no new planes, things looked a bit better in February. The aircraft maker reported 15 new jet orders last month. While that’s an improvement from the 3 orders in January, it’s still a tiny number compared to Boeing’s usual sales.
January had been Boeing’s worst sales month in years. After cancellations, the company had zero net new orders – an unprecedented drought caused by ongoing issues with its planes.
Quality Control Problems Persist
The reason for Boeing’s struggles? A tear in the fuselage of an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX plane in January raised major safety red flags about production quality control. This incident disrupted Boeing’s entire supply chain and tanked new sales.
One of Boeing’s biggest customers, Southwest Airlines, says it now expects over 40% fewer jet deliveries from Boeing this year versus original plans. The supply chain problems mean Southwest will have to cut around 1% of the seats it can offer passengers in 2023.
Long Road to Recovery
While 15 new orders is better than January’s terrible numbers, it’s still a tiny fraction of the sales Boeing saw for most of 2022. Last year, Boeing averaged 121 new orders per month as demand for air travel bounced back post-pandemic.
Boeing delivered only 27 planes in February as well – way below its average monthly rate of 44 deliveries last year. So despite some small improvements, it’s clear Boeing has a long, long way to go before fully recovering.
Aviation regulators still need to approve Boeing’s plans for increasing 737 MAX production, but not until quality control issues are properly addressed. Major airlines like Southwest are being forced to delay and scale back orders because of the persisting problems.
For Boeing, the modest February sales uptick was a baby step in the right direction after hitting rock bottom in January. But restoring full confidence and ramping up to normal production levels could still take many more months of steady progress.
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