Boeing’s April orders led by American’s 47 787s, Utair’s 30 MAXs

Boeing’s April orderbook was dominated by American Airlines’ April 6 order for 47 787s, which helped to lift the US manufacturer’s gross commercial aircraft order total for the year to 321, nearly double the total for Airbus.

A second major booking for the month came from Russian carrier Utair, which ordered 30 737 MAX aircraft April 7. The specific MAX variant remains unspecified but Russian media has reported that Utair CEO Andrey Martirosov said at the Moscow NAIS 2018 Expo in February the airline plans to introduce MAX 7 and MAX 8 aircraft in 2019, at the rate of 4-5 aircraft per year. Following a query from ATW, Boeing said it would not disclose sub-model information.

Boeing’s third order for the month was for a single 787-8, from Uzbekistan Airways.

Boeing registered 31 new “changes” for the month, including 30 737s and one 787, bringing the year’s total of changes/cancellations to 65. Boeing’s net total of new aircraft ordered for the year stands at 256, tripling Airbus’ 86 net total aircraft ordered in 2018 so far.

American Airlines’ 787 wide-body order includes 25 787-9s, scheduled to begin delivery in 2023, and 22 787-8s, scheduled for delivery beginning in 2020. In Boeing’s April orders and deliveries tally, released May 9, the 22 787-8s are registered as Boeing Capital Corporation orders. Boeing Capital is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Boeing offering asset-backed lending and leasing, as well as financing services, according to its website.

“This was a part of the announced American Airlines deal,” a Boeing Capital spokesperson told ATW. “Boeing’s strategy has always been to ensure a range of efficient financing solutions are available for customers who purchase our products. In this particular case, providing sale-leaseback financing directly between Boeing and American Airlines for the 22 787-8s was the best solution and our intention is to find a lessor for these airplanes.”

Boeing delivered 42 commercial aircraft in April to 21 airlines and four lessors, bringing the company’s total commercial aircraft deliveries year-to-date to 220 aircraft, compared to Airbus’ 171. Irish LCC Ryanair took the largest group of aircraft for the month, receiving five 737-800s. All totaled, 20 737 NG aircraft were delivered in April, as well as 10 737 MAX family aircraft, seven 787-9s, two 737-900ERs for Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines, a 767-300F freighter for Fed Ex, a 777-300ER for Chicago-based United Airlines and Singapore Airlines’ second 787-10 (out of 49 on firm order).

(Mark Nensel - ATWOnline News)