Boeing revenue climbs with more aircraft deliveries

Boeing raked in nearly $24 billion in revenue last quarter.

That’s a 57% increase over the same period last year, according to the aerospace firm’s results call on Tuesday. One reason for the jump? After years of delays, Boeing is delivering more commercial aircrafts.

Boeing’s passenger plane business leans heavily on one workhorse model, said Kristine Liwag, an analyst with Morgan Stanley.

“The 737 MAX is the largest potential cash producer for Boeing,” Liwag said.

But after deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019, 737 MAXes were temporarily grounded. Then, the FAA capped how many of them Boeing could produce each month to make sure it wasn’t cutting corners, said Dan Bubb, aviation professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

“The company lost a lot of money, had to really kind of do a PR tour to try and improve its image,” he said.

But Bubb said Boeing has strengthened its safety culture and manufacturing. Last year, the firm delivered 600 new airplanes. That’s the most since 2018.

But “it’s not out of the woods yet,” Bubb said.

Boeing is still seeking FAA approval to raise its current production cap of 42 MAX jets per month, in part because it has a big backlog of orders.

“Airlines are trying to replace a lot of their older aircraft,” Bubb said.

He said that means demand for new 737 MAX jets isn’t going anywhere.