Boeing delivered 30 aircraft in December 2024 in its most recent report on January 14, 2025, less than half of its 67 deliveries in December 2023. The deliveries included 17 737 MAX deliveries, down from 44 a year prior.
Overall, Boeing delivered 57 aircraft in the fourth quarter of 2024, resulting in 348 commercial deliveries in total for the year.
Out of the deliveries, 36 737s were delivered in the quarter and 265 deliveries in the full year. Three 767s and 777s were delivered in the fourth quarter, as well as 15 787s. 18 767s, 14 777s, and 51 787s were delivered in the full year.
The full year deliveries are nearly halved from the 528 deliveries in 2023. However, supply chain aside, the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 incident on a 737 aircraft at the start of the year, along with regulatory oversight, and the machinist strike at its Seattle and Portland factories, it is no surprise that its aircraft deliveries fell significantly.
“We closed this year essentially restarting our production system, which was really a key focus so that we could set up a baseline for 2025,” said Boeing vice president commercial marketing Darren Hulst at Airline Economics’ Growth Frontiers Dublin 2025. “For 2025, the key elements in place are the stability of the supply chain and then having the workforce ready to produce those aircraft and increase the output.”
Hulst said the supply and demand gap will reach a balance by 2030.
“Every year that we produce more aircraft per month, we start to feed into that deficit,” he said. “From my perspective that’s about a five-year impact in terms of what we need to do and it will take to the rest of this decade to get back to balance.”
Hulst further explained that the analysis that the industry is around 4,000 aircraft short, stating this is “misconstrued”.
“In reality, if there wasn’t a pandemic, the industry was set to produce 4,000 more airplanes than it has over the course of the last eight years,” he explained. “But did it need 4,000 more aircraft? Frankly, no it did not… I think we’re short somewhere in the neighbourhood of 1,500 and 1,800 aircraft. That 4,000 really translates to about half of that in terms of actual shortage.”
Hulst said the company has made “great strides” in improving the quality of its output. “If work that is meant to be done moves down the production system, it not only becomes inefficient, but it creates opportunity for quality to escape,” said Hulst. With the company ensuring quality is maintained, he said, Boeing is able to “lay the groundwork” to achieve stability. “That ultimately enables a tremendous target, not just at this rate, but at the rates the industry needs.”
Boeing did not set an annual target for 2024 as it contended with its quality control issues and regulatory oversight. No target for 2025 has been set at present as it continues to grapple with these hurdles.