Boeing’s commercial aircraft deliveries saw a drastic drop at the start of the year, producing just 83 aircraft in Q1, compared to 130 planes a year ago.

The aircraft titan delivered 67 of its 737s, three 767s and 13 of its 787s, a 36% year-over-year decline amid the company’s public manufacturing struggles and a Federal Aviation Administration probe.

The news comes as the company pledged to slow production of its 737 Max units to under 38 a month to address safety issues. Boeing plans to ramp production back up at the end of the year.

Boeing opted not to provide a 2024 delivery forecast in January amid its struggles to get production quality back on track.

At the same time, its push to reach pre-pandemic delivery levels is likely to take more time, according to analysts.

“In 2018, before COVID-19 and the first 737 MAX grounding, Boeing delivered 806 jets, a level that will likely not be recaptured before the 2025-26 timeframe,” Forecast International wrote in its analysis of the deliveries.

On the defense, space and security side, Boeing delivered a total of 14 aircrafts.

The FAA audit of Boeing’s manufacturing practices also slowed production. In January, the agency paused any requests from Boeing to expand production or approve additional production lines of its Max jets until quality control issues were resolved.

The FAA also released an audit last month that found “multiple instances” in which Boeing and its supplier Spirit AeroSystems allegedly failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements.

Now, the FAA is investigating claims made by Boeing engineer Sam Salehpour that sections of the 787 Dreamliner’s fuselage are allegedly improperly fastened and could break apart mid-flight, the New York Times reported Tuesday.

Salehpour is scheduled to testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs’ investigations subcommittee on April 17.

By: DocMemory
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