Boeing Commercial Airplanes reported it delivered 806 new aircraft during 2018, a new record total for annual deliveries and 5.6% more than the previous record, set for 2017.
"In a dynamic year, our production discipline and our supplier partners helped us build and deliver more airplanes than ever before to satisfy the strong demand for air travel across the globe," stated Kevin McAllister, president and CEO of the Boeing business unit.
The narrow-body Boeing 737 series accounted for the largest number of 2018 deliveries, with 580 new aircraft completed and provided. Responding to growing demand a rising volume of orders (a seven-year order backlog, according to Boeing), it increased 737 production to 52 aircraft/month in mid 2018.
The wide-body 787 Dreamliner accounted for 145 new jets delivered last year, and the long-range 777 jet accounted for 48 jets delivered during the past year. The 767 series (27 deliveries) and 747 series (six new aircraft delivered) complete the 2018 total.
Boeing also reported that it logged 893 new orders for aircraft during the year, a result boosted by 203 new orders during December.
Again, the 737 led the field with 760 new orders during 2018, and now a current order backlog of 4,708 aircraft. Boeing drew 131 new orders for 787 Dreamliners during 2018, and the backlog for those aircraft rose to 604. Orders for 777 series jets totaled 426, and the backlog rose to 59.
There were orders for 40 new 767 series jets in 2018, and the backlog for those aircraft is now at 111. Only 18 orders were recorded for the 747 last year, and the order book for those jets is now at 24.
Rival jet builder Airbus S.A. has yet to report its 2018 deliveries and new orders.
