It is not surprising that Boeing was unable to collect a single new order in April. Last month, the true extent of the corona crisis became clear to the rest of the airline industry. And hand in hand with their rapidly declining liquidity and much lower growth forecasts, their appetite for investment also waned.
The zero orders in April is probably of less concern to managers in Chicago and Seattle than the other negative developments. Customers have cancelled no less than 108 Boeing 737 Max orders last month. The leasing companies Gecas and CDB Financial cancelled orders for 69 and 29 aircraft. It is not known from whom the cancellation of another ten 737 Max came.
Boeing itself cancelled 99 orders
This means that customers have already cancelled a total of 299 Boeing 737 Max orders in the current year. But the actual balance is even worse for Boeing. In April, the aircraft manufacturer itself deleted another 99 Boeing 737 Max from its books, whose orders are considered very uncertain.
The order for two Dreamliners, which was cancelled in April, is in this context not of much importance. After four months, the American aircraft manufacturer is in the red with a total of 255 orders; if the uncertain orders are deducted, the minus is as high as 516 jets.
Airbus is clearly in a better position
The cancellations have another bitter effect. Boeing's order backlog fell below 5000 aircraft in April. It now stands at 4834 jets.
Airbus has a backlog of 7645 planes. The European aircraft manufacturer stands a net total of 299 orders this year.
