Title: Wrapping Up a Challenging 2024 for Boeing
In the last month of 2024, Boeing noted a decent 142 gross orders, mainly centered around their challenged 737 Max. This marked their best sales month of the year, albeit a significant drop from the 371 plane orders they garnered in the same period of 2023. Despite the positive sales figure, December's orders showed a substantial decline. Consequently, Boeing closed out 2024 with 569 total gross orders, a substantial drop of 60% compared to their 2023 tally.
Boeing faced a labor strike involving 33,000 International Association of Machinists members starting September 13. Although the strike ended on November 4, production resumed at the affected plants only by early December. As a consequence, the company was only able to ship 30 planes to customers in December, lowering their annual deliveries to 348, a 34% drop compared to 2023's figure.
The company's financial health is heavily dependent on getting aircraft out of the factory and into the hands of airlines. Unfortunately, their fourth-quarter deliveries fell by 64% compared to the final quarter of 2023, leading to substantial losses announced at the end of the month. Worse yet, Boeing has warned investors that their losses will persist throughout 2025.
Tracking the enrichment data, we can see that some of the orders were from flydubai (30 787 orders) and Pegasus Airlines (100 737 MAX orders). However, the overall impact of strikes and delivery delays, including a seven-week labor strike by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, significantly affected Boeing's full-year orders and deliveries. Boeing delivered 528 jets in 2023, but this figure dropped to 348 in 2024. Further, while December showed an improvement with 30 plane deliveries, it was still a stark contrast to pre-strike levels.
New orders also took a hit, with 569 gross orders and 377 net orders compared to 1,456 gross orders and 1,314 net orders in 2023. This decrease was partly due to cancellations, such as the 135 orders from Jet Airways following the airline's liquidation. As a result, Boeing ended 2024 with 6,245 unfilled orders, with 5,595 included in their official backlog.
In conclusion, the strikes and delivery delays had a considerable impact on Boeing's full-year orders and deliveries, resulting in a significant drop in both metrics compared to the year prior.
Despite the labor strike and its impact on production, Boeing still managed to secure some business with flydubai and Pegasus Airlines, resulting in 30 787 orders and 100 737 MAX orders respectively. However, the challenges faced in 2024 led to a substantial decline in their overall business, with only 348 planes delivered, a 34% drop compared to 2023's figure.
