Boeing Delivers Record 762 Jets in 2015 (Updated)

UPDATE: Boeing released final order details for 2015 on Thursday afternoon. To a prior reported total of 743, the company added 25 more orders to finish the calendar year with 768 net new orders, pushing its book-to-bill ratio to more than one, the company’s target for the year.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) reported Thursday morning that it delivered a total of 762 commercial jets in 2015, slightly better than the top end of its forecast delivery range of 755 to 760 commercial planes. Boeing delivered 182 commercial planes in the fourth quarter, well below the 199 it delivered to customers in the third quarter.

Here is a list of 2015 deliveries by family:

• 737: 495
• 747: 18
• 767: 16
• 777: 98
• 787: 135

Unless there is change to the 743 yearly order total that the company announced last week, Boeing’s book-to-bill ratio for 2015 will be 0.975, close to its target of one.

When it comes to delivering new jets, Boeing hammers arch-rival Airbus. Airbus delivered about 635 planes in 2014, compared with 725 from Boeing, and a report surfaced last week that Airbus delivered a 79 planes in last December to equal its 2014 total again in 2015. Airbus, which had taken orders for 1,007 new planes by end of November, is the clear winner in horse race for new aircraft orders.
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There are a couple of other things worth mentioning about Boeing’s delivery total. The 98 777s the company delivered to customers last year works out to 8.17 planes a month, a little short of Boeing’s announced rate of 8.3 per month, or 100 per year. At the end of November, Boeing reported 212 orders in its 777 backlog for the current version of the plane, or about two years worth.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday morning that Air China has ordered six 777-300ERs with a total order value of $2.05 billion at list price. The planes are scheduled to be delivered in 2016 and 2017. That certainly will help, but Boeing needs more orders for the plane.

Offsetting the jitters about the 777X is a report that deliveries of the re-engined 737 MAX actually may occur as planned. First delivery is currently scheduled for the third quarter of 2017, and the company is right on schedule to meet that.

Airbus, however, had to postpone the first delivery of its re-engined A320neo, which the company had planned for late 2015. Airbus even had to change the launch customer. Lufthansa will now receive the new plane instead of Qatar Airways. The problem appears to be with the starting capability of the new Pratt & Whitney geared turbo-fan engines in high temperature environments like the Middle East.