Last month, Boeing received orders for just four new planes, while no orders were placed for its best-selling 737 Max, marking the second straight month with no orders for 737 Max, the Associated Press reported. This slump follows the fallout from a side panel blowout on a Max during a flight in January.
The results, released Tuesday, showed a stark contrast with Europe’s Airbus, which reported net orders for 15 planes in May, comprising 27 sales and 12 cancellations.
Boeing also experienced a cancellation from Aerolineas Argentinas for a single Max jet, reducing its net sales for the month to three. As a result, shares of The Boeing Co. fell 3 percent in afternoon trading.
These disappointing figures followed poor results for April, when Boeing reported seven sales, none of which were for the Max.
Boeing hopes the slow pace of orders is a temporary lull before the Farnborough International Airshow next month, where aircraft deals are often announced.
However, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is capping Boeing’s production of 737s after a door plug blew out from an Alaska Airlines Max. This comes amid allegations by whistleblowers that Boeing has taken shortcuts in production 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 received four, and Alaska Airlines took three. In comparison, Airbus reported delivering 53 planes last month.
Despite the recent slow sales, Boeing still has a substantial backlog of more than 5,600 orders.