Dismal 2020 continues for Boeing, as it delivers just four planes in May

That thud you heard Tuesday afternoon was Boeing stock dropping by 3%, after its May orders and deliveries report came out. The end result: May was not a good month for the company.

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Boeing delivered only four airplanes in May. That’s the lowest total for a month in 60 years, and down 87% over May of 2019.

Not one of those deliveries was a passenger airplane. Three were freighters, and the fourth was a 737 NG converted to the sub-hunter P-8 Poseidon. The company has delivered only 60 commercial airplanes for the year.

The orders count was just as dismal. Boeing only picked up orders for nine planes in May, all freighters. The company has also had 18 MAX cancellations. Boeing’s net orders for the year are negative 602, as customers around the world pull back on orders outright, look to restructure their orders, or delay them entirely.

The backlog of planes to build has fallen to 4,744, the lowest number in seven years.

This comes as Boeing has begun laying off nearly 10,000 Washington workers to save cash, as it tries to weather this global pandemic and drop in air travel. It is also cutting production to meet the vanishing demand.

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Things are not rosy for rival Airbus either, but it is doing better. Airbus has delivered 160 airplanes this year, but did not pick up any orders in May either.

Boeing’s stock has risen over 50% since the end of May, as hints of some increased passenger flight demand have been seen.

The TSA reported the highest volume in passengers through the country’s airports since March 22 happened on Sunday, with just over 440,000 passengers. The same day last year saw over 2.6 million.

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