Boeing in the first quarter of 2026 delivered more commercial aircraft than in the same period of any year since 2019, doing so despite a wiring problem that prompted it to briefly halt 737 Max deliveries.
In total, the company handed over 143 aircraft in the January-March period, a strong start to a year in which Boeing aims to ramp production of 737s – including by bringing a new assembly facility online – and 787s.
The manufacturer’s first-quarter 2026 deliveries comprised 114 737s, six 767s, eight 777Fs and 15 787s.
Boeing had not delivered that many aircraft in a first quarter since it handed over 149 jets in the first three months of 2019. Boeing’s first-quarter 2025 deliveries came to 130 aircraft.
Also in the first three months of 2026 Boeing booked orders for 161 jets – down from 241 in the same period last year – including 105 737s, six 767s and 50 787s.
That activity left Boeing with 6,127 aircraft in its backlog at end-March, including 4,368 737s, 94 767s, 606 777s and 1,059 787s.
In March, Boeing briefly paused 737 Max deliveries due to a wiring issue that required rework to about 25 newly produced aircraft.
Boeing said the problem involved “small scratches due to a machining error” but was not more specific.
Speaking on 17 March, Boeing chief financial officer Jay Malave said each affected jet required about three days of rework and that the issue would require Boeing delay about 10 planned 737 Max deliveries from the first to second quarters.
Boeing ultimately delivered 46 jets in March, including 33 737 Max, one 737-800-based P-8 military surveillance aircraft, two 767s, three 777 Freighters and seven 787s.
Last month, it landed orders for 33 aircraft, including for 20 737 Max, five 737NGs and eight 787s, all from undisclosed customers.
Boeing does not provide detail about the 737NG orders, though it still produces two variants of that family: 737-800-based P-8s and 737-700-based E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft.
In March, two customers – Spain’s Air Europa and Poland’s Enter Air – each cancelled orders for a single 737 Max, Boeing adds.
The company has been producing 737s at a rate of about 42 monthly but plans to hit rate 47 this year. This summer it aims to bring its new 737 assembly line in Everett online.
That operation – Boeing’s fourth, supplementing three 737 assembly lines at its Renton facility – will enable 737 output to rise to above 47 monthly.
Boeing has estimated it will deliver 500 737s this year, an increase on the 447 of the narrowbody jets it shipped in 2025.
The post Boeing kept deliveries humming in first quarter at pace unmatched since 2019 first appeared on FlightGlobal.