U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing (BA) has outsold French rival Airbus SE (EADSF) for the first time in three years as the 737 Max aircraft showed resilience after being grounded worldwide following several high-profile crashes.
The Chicago-based plane maker notched 909 gross orders last year, more than double its total for the previous two years combined, according to data released by Boeing. Airbus reported 771 sales for all of 2021.
Boeing stock rose 2.3% to $214.14 U.S. in New York trading, logging the second-biggest gain on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The stock has climbed 4% this year through January 10.
The company still faces a difficult comeback as it works to shed debt and repair damage wrought by the pandemic and a 20-month flying ban for the 737 Max after two fatal crashes. Airbus is poised to dominate the narrow-body market for years, with a backlog of 6,314 single-aisle orders to 4,138 for Boeing.
Airbus has been quicker to recover from the pandemic, delivering 611 planes last year, compared with 340 for Boeing. The U.S. manufacturer is gradually boosting output of the Max line of aircraft after stopping production in 2020.
The company also is working with U.S. regulators to restart deliveries of the twin-aisle 787 Dreamliner that have been largely halted for more than a year because of manufacturing flaws.
Boeing nevertheless netted sales of 140 wide-body jets last year, including 80 air freighters. And the company has made headway in re-establishing the Max. Since the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration approved the plane’s redesigned software in late 2020, more than 185 regulators worldwide have cleared the 737 Max to fly again, the company said.
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