Boeing ‘rolled out’ 38 MAX planes in May, reaching FAA production cap
June 10, 2025 at 8:00 am Updated June 10, 2025 at 8:00 am
737 MAX aircraft are seen in various states of assembly at the Boeing 737 factory June 25 in Renton. (Jennifer Buchanan / The Seattle Times)
By
Lauren Rosenblatt
Seattle Times business reporter
Boeing delivered 45 airplanes in May and booked 303 gross orders, its largest monthly order count since December 2023.
The bulk of those orders came from Qatar Airways, which signed a deal for 120 787 planes and 30 777Xs during President Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East last month. That deal marked the largest ever order for Boeing widebody planes and for the 787, the company said Tuesday in its monthly report of orders and deliveries.
Boeing’s May deliveries match its output for the first five months of the year, including 45 deliveries in April and January, with the surrounding months all ringing in above 40 planes per month.
In May, Boeing marked a separate milestone by increasing monthly production of the 737 MAX to 38 planes, reaching the Federal Aviation Administration’s production cap for the first time since it was put in place. The FAA limited Boeing’s 737 MAX production, after a panel flew off an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 in January 2024, hoping to ensure Boeing would slow its factories as it focused on quality and safety over production pace.
Boeing “rolled out” 38 737 MAX planes last month, the company confirmed Tuesday, meaning it moved 38 planes through its production line and out of the factory. Not all of those 38 planes have been delivered to customers.
Boeing would now need to secure permission from the FAA to move above the 38 per month production threshold, something that will be crucial to generating more cash and a sign of the company’s recovery since the panel blowout.
CEO Kelly Ortberg has said Boeing hopes to seek that permission this year but won’t do so until it’s sure it is still meeting key performance indicators it identified with the FAA as part of its safety and quality plan after the Alaska Airlines incident.
Of the 45 planes delivered in May, 32 were from the 737 family, including 31 MAXs and one 737 NG delivered to Boeing’s defense program for the P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft.
Boeing also delivered seven 787s widebody planes, five 777 freighters and one 767 freighter.
From January through the end of May, Boeing delivered 220 planes, including 167 737 jets, 28 787s, 16 777s and nine 767s.
In the same time period last year, as it was still reeling from the Alaska Airlines incident, Boeing delivered 131planes.
So far this year, Boeing has booked 552 gross orders. Adjusting for 40 cancellations and strict accounting principles, Boeing’s net orders through the end of May totaled 606.
In addition to Qatar Airway’s order for 120 787 planes and 30 777Xs, Boeing booked seven 787s orders in May, listed as an unidentified customer.
It also booked 146 orders for the 737 MAX, including 20 for AviLease, seven for WestJet and 119 for unidentified customers.
It’s difficult to compare Boeing’s May orders to those of its European rival Airbus, which reported zero orders last month but is thought to be delaying its announcements for next week’s Paris Air Show. Airlines and manufacturers have historically used the annual air show to announce large, splashy deals.
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When it comes to deliveries, Airbus slightly outpaced Boeing, delivering 51 airplanes in May, to 32 customers, compared to Boeing’s 45.
In the first five months of the year, Airbus delivered 243 planes to 61 customers, compared to Boeing’s 220.
Boeing’s backlog grew from 5,643 planes at the end of April to 5,943 as of May 31.
Lauren Rosenblatt: 206-464-2927 or lrosenblatt@seattletimes.com. Lauren Rosenblatt is a Seattle Times business reporter covering Boeing and the aerospace industry.
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