Latest news with #737Maxes
CNBC
3 days ago
- Business
- CNBC
Boeing airplane orders rise to highest level since late 2023 ahead of Paris Air Show
Boeing's gross orders for new airplanes hit 303 last month, the most since December 2023, as the company makes strides against its rival Airbus and works to stabilize production of its bestselling jets near the Federal Aviation Administration limit. The manufacturer handed over 45 aircraft in May, in line with the month before but higher than the 24 it delivered a year earlier. This year through May, Boeing delivered 220 airplanes to customers, while Airbus delivered 243 planes. Deliveries are key to Boeing and Airbus generating cash since the bulk of an airplane's price is paid when the jet is handed over. Net of cancellations and conversions, Boeing has logged orders for 512 planes this year, compared with 215 for Airbus. More orders could be signed next week at the Paris Air Show — a trade event where companies get a chance to showcase new technology and aircraft, and strike deals. The FAA capped Boeing's 737 Max production at 38 a month last year after a door plug blew out of a nearly new Max 9 as it climbed out of Portland, Oregon. While no one was seriously injured in the accident, the new safety crisis hit Boeing's output. Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said the company is planning to stabilize its production line at the current rate around 38 a month and then could seek permission from the FAA to raise that rate. Net of cancellations, Boeing logged 345 orders last month, 146 of them for 737 Maxes and 157 for 787 Dreamliners and yet-to-be-certified 777X planes in a massive wide-body order from Qatar Airways. The deal was signed during President Donald Trump's visit to Doha, Qatar, last month. Ortberg said late last month that Boeing expects to resume deliveries of planes to Chinese airlines this month after a pause during the trade war between the Trump administration and Beijing. Including accounting adjustments, Boeing has received 606 net orders this year, and its backlog was 5,943 at the end of May.
NBC News
02-04-2025
- Business
- NBC News
Boeing tells Senate it's making progress on safety reforms and is in talks with DOJ over revised plea deal
WASHINGTON — Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg told senators on Wednesday that he's happy with the company's progress improving manufacturing and safety practices following several accidents, including a near catastrophe last year. Ortberg faced questioning from the Senate Commerce Committee about how the company will ensure that it doesn't repeat past accidents or manufacturing defects, in his first hearing since he became CEO last August, tasked with turning the manufacturer around. Sen. Ted Cruz, R.-Texas, the committee's chairman, said he wants Boeing to succeed and invited company managers and factory workers to report to him their opinions on its turnaround plan. 'Consider my door open,' he said. Ortberg acknowledged the company still has more to do. 'Boeing has made serious missteps in recent years — and it is unacceptable. In response, we have made sweeping changes to the people, processes, and overall structure of our company,' Ortberg said in his testimony. 'While there is still work ahead of us, these profound changes are underpinned by the deep commitment from all of us to the safety of our products and services.' Boeing executives have worked for years to put the lasting impact of two fatal crashes of its best-selling Max plane behind it. Ortberg said Boeing is in discussions with the Justice Department for a revised plea agreement stemming from a federal fraud charge in the development of Boeing's best-selling 737 Maxes. The previous plea deal, reached last July, was later rejected by a federal judge, who last month set a trial date for June 23 if a new deal isn't reached. Boeing had agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to defraud the U.S. government, pay up to $487.2 million and install a corporate monitor at the company for three years. 'We're in the process right now of going back with the DOJ and coming up with an alternate agreement,' Ortberg said during the hearing. 'I want this resolved as fast as anybody. We're still in discussions and hopefully we'll have a new agreement here soon.' Asked by Sen. Maria Cantwell, the ranking Democrat on the committee, whether he had an issue with having a corporate monitor, Ortberg replied: 'I don't personally have a problem, no.' Ortberg and other Boeing executives have recently outlined improvements across the manufacturer's production lines, such as reducing defects and risks from so-called traveled works, or doing tasks out of sequence, in recent months, as well as wins like a contract worth more than $20 billion to build the United States' next generation fighter jet. But lawmakers and regulators have maintained heightened scrutiny on the company, a top U.S. exporter. 'Boeing has been a great American manufacturer and all of us sh o uld want to see it thrive,' Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican and chairman of the committee, said in a statement in February announcing the hearing. 'Given Boeing's past missteps and problems, the flying public deserves to hear what changes are being made to rehabilitate the company's tarnished reputation.' The Federal Aviation Administration last year capped Boeing's production of its 737 Max planes at 38 a month following the January 2024 door plug blowout. The agency plans to keep that limit in place, though Boeing is producing below that level. Ortberg said at the hearing Wednesday that the company could work up to production rate of 38 Max planes a month or even higher sometime this year, but said Boeing wouldn't push it if the production line isn't stable. Acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau said at a Senate hearing last week that the agency's oversight of the company 'extends to ongoing monitoring of Boeing's manufacturing practices, maintenance procedures, and software updates.'
