Boeing delivers 57 aircraft in September, its best month of the year

Boeing delivered 57 aircraft in September, its highest monthly total this year. That is up from 51 in August and 55 a year earlier, helped by efforts to raise the assembly rate of its best-selling narrowbody, the 737 MAX.

The 737 MAX accounted for 43 of the 57 deliveries. Eight were 787 Dreamliners and four were 767s, three of which went to the manufacturer's defence division for completion as KC-46 aerial refuelling tankers. The remaining two were 777 Freighters.

Through the end of September, Boeing counts 475 deliveries for the year, up 8% year on year. Of those, 363 were 737 MAX jets, the programme's highest first-nine-month total of any year. Boeing is still working to stabilise output at 47 MAX aircraft a month. The target has run into temporary obstacles, and chief executive Kelly Ortberg told an investor conference in September that reaching the rate has taken longer than first expected.

On orders, the source reports Boeing recorded 165 new orders in September, and that the company remained behind European rival Airbus. The source's account of that comparison is cut off and does not give Airbus's figure.