The 737 MAX is airborne again, but that hasn't ended Boeing's (BA 2.36%) issues with cancellations. The aerospace giant reported more cancellations than orders for the plane in November, continuing a miserable year for the company's commercial operations.
Boeing lost 63 orders for the 737 MAX in November and posted no deliveries for its 787 Dreamliner, another once-popular model that is now struggling. 737 MAX cancellations for the year, including orders where buyers converted to a different model, rose to 536 planes.
Image source: Boeing.
Boeing's 737 MAX was cleared to fly in mid-November after 20 months on the ground following a pair of fatal accidents. Airlines are now preparing to return the planes already in their fleets to service, but selling additional aircraft to an industry currently ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic is a challenge.
The 787 Dreamliner helped make up the cash shortfall prior to the pandemic, but with international travel largely nonexistent, airlines need fewer of those larger, longer-range jets. Boeing had already planned to cut Dreamliner production in 2021, and said last week that the cuts would be larger than originally planned.
Boeing has now delivered 118 planes in 2020, compared to Airbus' (EADSY 1.22%) 477 deliveries. Boeing's year-to-date net orders after cancellations and conversions stand at a negative 454 planes.
Its order book for December should look better than this November report. Irish discounter Ryanair on Dec. 3 announced plans to order an additional 75 of the 737 MAX jets. At list price, that order is worth about $9 billion, a major boost for the struggling program.
