US manufacturer’s order activity for first four months of the year is its best since 2014.
Boeing’s backlog surged in April as the company landed big deals for both narrowbody and widebody jets, including orders that throw further momentum behind its 787 and 777X programmes.
Customers handed Boeing orders last month for 136 aircraft, and the company delivered 47 jets – a healthy pace, on a par with previous months.
That activity left the airframer’s backlog flush with 6,216 aircraft at end-April, up from 6,127 one month earlier, Boeing said on 12 May.
Its April figure – its highest monthly sales total in 2026 – brought Boeing’s year-to-date net orders to 284, more in the first four months of any year since 2014.
Boeing last month padded its in-development 777X programme with 28 new orders, all from customers Boeing declines to name, bringing that programme’s backlog to nearly 600 aircraft.
Also in April, Boeing landed orders for 57 737 Max, with the bulk – 52 – for unnamed customers and the balance including four jets for Biman Bangladesh Airlines and one for UK leisure airline operator TUI Travel.
Additionally, customers last month signed for 51 787s, comprised of a 10-unit deal from Biman, six jets each ordered by Ethiopian Airlines and El Al – both loyal Boeing buyers – and 29 ordered by customers Boeing declines to name.
The company lost only one jet to a cancellation last month — a 737 Max that had been ordered by lessor BOC Aviation. It also added to its backlog one aircraft previously housed in an accounting bucket reserved for orders Boeing suspects might not result in actual sales.
Meanwhile in April, Boeing delivered 47 aircraft — one more than in March — bringing its year-to-date deliveries to 190, up 9% year on year. Those April deliveries included 34 737 Max, one 767 Freighter, three 767-based military tankers, a trio of 777Fs and six 787s.
Boeing says it would have delivered more aircraft last month except for “customer requirements” that shifted some 737 Max deliveries to May and “delays of premium seat certification” that slowed 787 handovers.
Boeing and Airbus have for months been struggled with delayed seat certifications.
The post Boeing backlog tops 6,200 jets after April sales surge first appeared on FlightGlobal.