Boeing’s 2023 Orders and Deliveries

As American aircraft manufacturer Boeing is battling yet another 737 MAX crisis, its annual update on the orders and deliveries is also concluded.

Deliveries On Point

The U.S. planemaker delivered 528 aircraft in 2023. This is an increase from the 480 units delivered in 2022 but a significant underperformance when compared to the prepandemic, pre-MAX-grounding high water mark of 806 units in 2018.

The number further splits into 396 narrowbody 737 jets and 73 787 Dreamliners. Both met their goals of 375 and 70-80 deliveries, respectively. At this point, it is worth mentioning that the narrowbody target was already downgraded in October after manufacturing flaws were detected and accredited to a fuselage supplier, Spirit AeroSystems. Additional inspections slowed the deliveries and caused the initial target of 400 to 450 units to be deemed unfeasible.

Southwest 737 MAX 8 aircraft (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)

Fourth Biggest Year on Orders

According to data provided by the manufacturer, 2023 was the fourth best year in Boeing’s history when it comes to net orders. The pandemic slowdown made the clients hesitant to put orders on the books, as airlines had plenty of unused capacity to put into schedules. Now that most carriers have reached and surpassed 2019 traffic records, getting more planes into the fleet has become a priority again.

2023 ended with Boeing netting 1314 orders after considering cancellations and conversions. This is the fourth-best result in Boeing’s history, worse only than 2007, 2013 and 2014 when accounting for the cancellations. It is a fair result given that, in 2007, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner prototype was rolled out, sparking a wave of 369 orders, which is a considerable number for a widebody aircraft.

This brought the total number of aircraft units ordered in 2007 to 1413. Orders increased in 2013 and 2014 after the manufacturer announced the new 737 line, the MAX, and clients rushed to secure a spot in line. With 708 and 891 MAX orders respectively, the final number of orders got to 1355 and 1432 in those years, so not that far above the 2023 result.

Given the very weak years of 2018 through 2021, when Boeing netted close to 0 new orders, 2023 could still be considered a release of the pent-up demand for the jets.

A Boeing 777F on test flights before delivery.
(Photo: AirlineGeeks | Katie Bailey)

The Competetive Comparison

Boeing’s main rival, European manufacturer Airbus, has also published its official 2023 numbers. It was already visible throughout 2023 that it would be a strong year for Airbus. With deliveries standing at 735 unit level and 2094 net new orders, the competitor has beaten its U.S. counterpart by 39% and 59% respectively, which is a symptomatic difference summarizing a story of the recent consecutive troubles Boeing had to battle with. This is the fifth year in a row that the European manufacturer is holding the prime spot when it comes to aircraft manufacturing.

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Filip Kopeć

A passionate aviation enthusiast that started off his career as an aerospace engineer, but found his true calling on the commercial side of the airline business. Now as a finance guy among avgeeks and an avgeek among finance guys, he has experience working in the Revenue Divisions of three airlines. In his spare time he enjoys traveling, but admittedly sometimes is more about the journey than the destination.

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