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Boeing ( BA ) on track for highest annual delivery total since

2018

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Boeing ( BA ) trails Airbus in deliveries, 493 vs 585

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Strong demand for Boeing's ( BA ) 787 Dreamliner, with 320 orders

this

year

By Dan Catchpole

SEATTLE, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Boeing ( BA ) said on

Tuesday that it delivered 53 jets in October, bringing its total

for the year to 493, and received 15 new orders last month.

The U.S. planemaker delivered 39 of its best-selling 737 MAX

jets, including nine to Southwest Airlines ( LUV ) and five to

Irish budget airline Ryanair. It delivered one 737 NG to

be converted into a P-8 maritime patrol plane for the U.S. Navy.

Boeing ( BA ) also delivered 13 widebody jets: seven 787 Dreamliners,

two 777 freighters and four 767s.

The company is on track to have its highest annual delivery

total since 2018, when it delivered 806. Boeing's ( BA ) annual

delivery totals tumbled the following year, when the 737 MAX was

grounded following two crashes that killed 346 people. It was

the beginning of a series of production safety and quality

crises, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, which destabilized

Boeing's ( BA ) output.

Boeing ( BA ) CEO Kelly Ortberg has focused the company's

commercial airplane division on improving production quality in

2025. The company recently was approved by federal regulators to

increase 737 output to 42 jets per month, from 38.

The company still trails European rival Airbus, which

delivered 585 airplanes in the first 10 months of the year.

October was a quiet month for Boeing's ( BA ) order book. The

company logged 15 new orders - eight 737s and seven 787s - but

it also received cancellations for seven 737 orders, for a net

total of eight orders.

Boeing ( BA ) has received 320 orders for its 787 Dreamliner so far

this year. That is the second-most 787 orders the company has

received in a year, behind the 369 orders it received in 2007.

The company is expanding its production facilities in South

Carolina, where it assembles the 787.

Last week, two Central Asian airlines announced plans to order

more 787s.

Through the first 10 months of this year, Boeing ( BA ) has booked

782 new orders after adjusting for cancellations and

conversions.

The company's order backlog is now 5,911.

Boeing ( BA ) shares closed up 0.1% at $194.81 on Monday. The

shares have gained 13.4% so far this year.