By Skies Magazine | April 27, 2023 Estimated reading time 5 minutes, 42 seconds.
The Boeing Company said in its Q1 2023 results report that despite a manufacturing issue discovered with the 737 earlier this month, the OEM still expects to deliver between 400 to 450 of the type this year, which would keep Boeing on track to hit its financial goals. However, the timing of 737 deliveries will be impacted over the next several months.
The company shared that the fuselage supplier for the 737 program notified Boeing in early April that “a non-standard manufacturing process was used on two fittings in the aft fuselage section of certain 737 airplanes.”
According to Boeing president and CEO Dave Calhoun, while this is not an immediate safety concern for the in-service fleet, the program will perform the necessary inspections and “rework of affected airplanes in production and storage, to ensure each meets our standards prior to delivery.”
Despite the setback, Boeing remains ambitious to move forward with increasing production of 737 aircraft to 38 per month “later this year,” and to 50 per month in the 2025/26 timeframe.
After Boeing ended production of the 747 aircraft in late 2022 — which took place at its Everett, Washington, factory — the company announced plans to open a fourth production line for 737 Max planes in Everett. This fourth line will supplement the existing three production lines in Renton, and should help the company meet its 737 production rate goal.
As well, the OEM is aiming to ramp up production of its 787 aircraft from three per month to five in late 2023. This is expected to double to 10 aircraft per month in the 2025/26 timeframe.
So far this year, Boeing has delivered 130 commercial airplanes — up from 95 in the same period last year — which translates to US$6.7 billion in revenue. Of those 130 aircraft, 113 were 737s, in addition to 11 787s, four 777s, one 767, and one 747 — which was the very last 747 to be delivered following the end of production.
The company also secured net orders of 107 commercial airplanes during the quarter, including commitments from Air India for 190 737 Max, 20 787, and 10 777X aircraft, and from Riyadh Air and Saudi Arabian Airlines for up to 121 787 planes. At the end of the first quarter, Boeing’s commercial airplane backlog stood at 4,500, which is valued at $334 billion.
In the defense sector, the OEM delivered 39 aircraft in the first quarter, which translates to $6.5 billion in revenue — up from $5.4 billion in the same period last year. However, Boeing said these results include “the continued operational impact of labor instability and supply chain disruption” on various programs.
In Q1/23, Boeing Defense received orders from the U.S. Army for 184 Apache helicopters, and from the U.S. Air Force for 15 KC-46A Tankers and the initial E-7 development contract. Moreover, the Canadian government in March submitted a letter of request to the U.S. government for the acquisition price of 16 Boeing P-8A Poseidon aircraft, which would replace the Royal Canadian Air Force fleet of 14 CP-140 Auroras.
At the end of the first quarter, the Defense, Space & Security backlog was $58 billion. Boeing noted that 30 percent of its defense backlog represents orders from customers outside of the U.S.
The company’s total revenue in Q1/23 increased to $17.9 billion — from $13.9 billion in Q1/22 — largely due to the volume of commercial deliveries.
“We delivered a solid first quarter and are focused on driving stability for our customers,” said Calhoun. “We are progressing through recent supply chain disruptions, but remain confident in the goals we set for this year, as well as for the longer term. Demand is strong across our key markets and we are growing investments to advance our development programs and innovate strategic capabilities.”
Find Boeing’s full Q1 2023 results report here.
