Boeing (BA) underperformed in the Dow Jones Industrial Average on January 14, as its fourth-quarter 2024 delivery report revealed a widening gap compared to European competitor Airbus.
In Q4, Boeing delivered 57 commercial aircraft, a significant drop from 157 in the same period last year. For the full year, Boeing’s deliveries totaled 348, down from 528 in 2023. In contrast, Airbus reported 269 deliveries in the fourth quarter, leading to a total of 766 for 2024, marking its highest annual total since 2019.
The decline in Boeing’s output was attributed to a nearly two-month-long strike by its union machinists, which concluded in November with a new contract agreement. This labor dispute hindered production in the final quarter.
Boeing has also been grappling with a series of challenges since an incident involving an Alaska Airlines (ALK) flight in January 2024. The flight, operating a 737 MAX, experienced a midair door panel detachment. Earlier this month, Mike Whitaker, the outgoing head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), stated that Boeing’s safety turnaround plan remains an ongoing effort, emphasizing that it is “not a one-year project.”
The company faced another tragic setback in December, when a 737-800 operated by Jeju Air, a South Korean carrier, crashed into a concrete barrier during its landing attempt, resulting in the deaths of 179 people.
As a result of these ongoing struggles, Boeing’s shares dipped by 3% intraday, marking a nearly 25% decline over the past year. The company reported its fourth-quarter results on January 28, 2025.
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