*

Boeing ( BA ) books 303 new orders in May, including Qatar

Airways'

record deal

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Boeing ( BA ) delivers 45 aircraft in May, nearly double from

last year

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Boeing ( BA ) hits 737 MAX production target amid past quality

concerns

By Dan Catchpole

SEATTLE, June 10 (Reuters) - Boeing ( BA ) is heading

into the Paris Air Show after a blockbuster May that included

booking 303 new orders and rolling out 38 new 737 MAX jets, a

production rate that it has been working to reach for more than

a year. The company also delivered 45 aircraft last month, it

said Tuesday.

It was the sixth-highest monthly order tally in Boeing's ( BA )

history, according to company data.

The orders included the largest widebody jet deal in Boeing's ( BA )

history: Qatar Airways' order for 130 787s and 30 777Xs, plus

options for another 50 of the long-haul aircraft. However, only

120 787s were added to Boeing's ( BA ) order backlog, according to the

company. It did not clarify the discrepancy.

The Qatar deal was announced during President Donald Trump's

whirlwind Middle East tour, which included a string of

high-profile business deals.

One day earlier, Saudi Arabian-owned lessor AviLease ordered 20

737-8 MAX jets.

Another Gulf region carrier, Etihad, said it planned to

order 28 widebody Boeing ( BA ) jets, but it did not place a firm

order, so the aircraft were not included in May's total.

Canadian airline WestJet also ordered seven 737 MAX jets.

The company also canceled two orders for 737s.

In total, three orders were canceled during the month,

making for 300 net new orders in May. Its order backlog rose to

5,943 orders as of May 31.

Boeing ( BA ) delivered 45 aircraft in the month, its fifth consecutive

month of 40 or more deliveries. The total was nearly twice as

many deliveries as the 24 aircraft the company handed over to

customers during the same month one year earlier.

Aircraft deliveries are closely watched by Wall Street

because planemakers are able to collect the majority of their

payment when they hand over jets to customers.

The company handed over 31 737 MAX jets, including seven to

United Airlines and four to Alaska Airlines, and seven 787s,

including three to Qatar Airways from earlier orders.

It also delivered five 777 freighters, one 767 freighter and

one 737 NG to be converted into a P-8 Poseidon for the U.S.

Navy.

None of the deliveries were to Chinese airlines, which stopped

taking new Boeing ( BA ) aircraft in April as the two countries clashed

over tariffs. China removed the ban after the Washington and

Beijing agreed to temporarily cut tariffs. A new 737 MAX landed

in China on Monday, according to flight tracking data, the first

to arrive since the ban was removed.

So far in 2025, Boeing ( BA ) has delivered 220 aircraft: 164 737

MAXes, three 737 NGs for conversion into P-8s, 28 787s, 16 777s

and nine 767s.

European rival Airbus has delivered 243 aircraft so far

this year, including 51 deliveries in May. The company did not

announce any new orders last month. However, Airbus is expected

to announce several deals during the Paris Air Show, which

starts Monday.

Boeing ( BA ) said on Tuesday that it rolled out 38 new 737 MAX

aircraft in May, hitting a production target that it has been

working to reach for more than a year. The U.S. Federal Aviation

Administration capped output at 38 airplanes a month due to

quality concerns exposed by a mid-air panel blowout in a nearly

new 737 in January 2024.

Monthly production of its best-selling 737 MAX has varied up

and down in recent years as the company grappled with internal

and external production problems and constraints. A strike last

year at its plants in Washington and Oregon shut down production

of the popular single-aisle airplane. Since production resumed

in December, the company has taken a slow and deliberate

approach to increasing the rate.

Boeing ( BA ) CEO Kelly Ortberg has said the company has to stabilize

production at 38 per month for several months before asking the

FAA to increase output.

All six production quality and safety metrics created by the

company and U.S. regulators are green, according to the company.