By Eric M. Johnson
SEATTLE (Reuters) – Boeing Co on Tuesday moved orders for 141 of its airplanes into accounting limbo due to the war in Ukraine and international sanctions against Russia, meaning it no longer expects the jets to be delivered.
Boeing unveiled the adjustment to its order backlog in monthly orders and deliveries data that also showed it had delivered 41 jets to customers in March.
The monthly deliveries tally included 34 of its cash-cow 737 MAX single-aisle jets, two 767 freighters for FedEx Corp and a 777 freighter for China Airlines.
The 41 March deliveries – nearly double the 22 it delivered in February and up from 29 a year ago – reflect rebounding travel and pandemic-driven cargo demand. Boeing said year-to-date deliveries stood at 95 aircraft.
However, deliveries of its 787 Dreamliner remain frozen as Boeing performs inspections and repairs on the twin-aisle jetliners sidelined by production problems for more than a year.
In March, Boeing booked orders for 53 planes, while customers canceled orders for 15 jets. Net of canceled orders and swapped models, Boeing had 38 orders, it said.
For the first three months of the year, Boeing’s orders rose to 167 from 114, Boeing said. Taking out cases where customers canceled orders or swapped models, its orders stood at 145, up from 107, Chicago-based Boeing reported.
After adjustments for deals deemed unlikely to result in actual delivery, net orders for the quarter year to date dropped to 76 from 179, Boeing said.
Overall, Boeing’s official order backlog fell to 4,231 from 4,375.
Boeing said the accounting adjustment included 141 aircraft removed from its backlog due to the war in Ukraine, which has resulted in international sanctions against Russia and ruined Ukraine’s airline industry.
Boeing said most of the orders now in question were for Russian and Ukrainian carriers. The orders were mostly for its best-selling 737 MAX family of planes, though more than a dozen of its 777 and 787 widebody models were also involved.
Buyers canceled orders for 15 aircraft in March including one 737 MAX for lessor Aviation Capital Group, 11 737 MAX for an unidentified buyer, and one 787-9 Dreamliner each for Air China and leasing company Avolon or its CIT subsidiary.
(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle)
