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Friday, 29 March 2024

Boeing's bad year ends with a victory for Airbus

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Boeing's bad year ends with a victory for Airbus
Boeing's bad year ends with a victory for Airbus

Airbus has overtaken Boeing, still beset by the grounding of its MAX jets, to claim the title of world's biggest planemaker, according to Reuters sources.

Julian Satterthwaite reports.

2019 was a year Boeing would like to forget.

The U.S. giant lost billions after its best-selling MAX jets were grounded following two fatal crashes.

Now 2020 has begun with a new insult.

Arch-rival Airbus looks to have regained the crown of world's largest planemaker.

Reuters sources say the European firm delivered a record 863 jets last year.

It reportedly worked through the holidays to reach that number, clearing a bottleneck of half-finished planes on the assembly line.

The official figure hasn't been confirmed yet though, with Airbus waiting on word from auditors.

As for Boeing, it had delivered just 345 airliners by the end of November and it faces a long road to recovery.

Its MAX jets are still grounded and there's no word when they might fly.

Hundreds have been completed but can't be delivered to customers.

The company recently said it would pause production to stop the buildup.

In December chief executive Dennis Muilenberg was forced out over his handling of the crisis.

Boeing will hope the next twelve months can only get better.

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