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Boeing ( BA ) delivered 45 jets in April, nearly double from last

year

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Boeing's ( BA ) April deliveries mark fourth month over 40 jets

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Boeing ( BA ) trails Airbus in deliveries and new orders

By Dan Catchpole

SEATTLE, May 13 (Reuters) - Boeing ( BA ) said on

Tuesday it delivered 45 commercial jets in April, nearly twice

the 24 airplanes it delivered during the same month a year ago.

Aircraft deliveries are closely tracked by Wall Street

because planemakers collect the majority of their payment when

they hand over jets to customers. Years of crises and production

problems have left Boeing ( BA ) heavily saddled with debt, and it

needs to increase deliveries to bring in more cash.

The April deliveries included two for Chinese airlines

before Beijing directed airlines to stop taking delivery of

Boeing ( BA ) airplanes amid a trade war between China and the United

States.

The company delivered four more jets last month than the 41 it

delivered in March.

It delivered a 777 freighter to CES Leasing Corp., which is

owned by China Eastern Airlines' parent company, and a 737 MAX

to China Southern. When U.S. President Donald Trump announced

stiff tariffs against China in April, four 737 MAX aircraft were

at Boeing's ( BA ) finishing center in Zhoushan, China, where it

installs interiors, paints on liveries and does other work

before delivering the aircraft. After China stopped taking

deliveries, the planes flew back to Seattle. They are currently

parked in Moses Lake in central Washington State.

Boeing ( BA ) CEO Kelly Ortberg said during the company's quarterly

earnings call last month that it had planned to deliver about 50

aircraft to customers this year in China. Orders from Chinese

carriers represent about 10% of the planemaker's commercial

backlog.

Boeing ( BA ) delivered 29 737 MAX planes, including eight for

United Airlines, five for Ryanair and five for Southwest

Airlines. The company also delivered eight 787s, four 777

freighters and three 767s.

April was the fourth consecutive month in which Boeing ( BA )

delivered more than 40 jets. The company has focused on

stabilizing the production rate of its bestselling 737 MAX,

which was hamstrung by quality problems in 2024.

Through the first four months of the year, Boeing ( BA ) has

delivered 175 aircraft, including 133 737 MAX, 21 787s and 11

777 freighters.

Boeing ( BA ) also booked eight gross new orders last month, one

more than it recorded in April 2024. All orders were for 737 MAX

jetliners by unidentified customers. It had no cancellations or

conversions. Thirty-two orders placed earlier were added to the

company's firm order book. They previously had not been included

due to U.S. accounting rules.

As of April 30, the planemaker has booked 249 gross orders

and 212 net orders after cancellations and conversions. It had

6,282 unfilled orders, and its official backlog was 5,643

orders, after adjusting for accounting standards.

The U.S. planemaker trailed its European rival Airbus, which

delivered 56 jets and booked 11 new orders in April. Both have

received substantial orders so far in May, including an order

from IAG, which owns British Airways, for 32 Boeing 787-10

aircraft for British Airways, and 21 Airbus A330-900neo

aircraft.