Boeing slightly beat annual delivery guidance by handing over a record 762 aircraft to customers last year, including 135 787s.
The yearly delivery totals announced on 7 January should keep the Chicago-based manufacturer comfortably ahead of Airbus’ commercial aircraft output last year.
Airbus is scheduled to release delivery totals for 2015 next week, but expects numbers to be “slightly higher” than the 2014 total of 626.
Boeing’s full-year deliveries indicate that the company’s assembly lines for the 787 have been operating faster than the publicly announced 10 per month rate. The 135 787s delivered in 2015 equate to an average delivery rate of more than 11 per month.
Boeing plans to increase 787 production to 12 per month this year, with increasing production expected to the company lower the aircraft’s manufacturing costs.
Boeing last year also delivered 495 737s, 18 747s, 16, 767s and 98 777s.
At the beginning of 2015, Boeing projected delivering between 750 to 755 aircraft during the year. The delivery guidance was later updated to a range of 755 and 760 aircraft.
Some deliveries have been deferred due to missed shipments of premium cabin equipment, especially by Zodiac Aerospace. The supplier acknowledged that premium cabin seating remains behind schedule last month, but expects to catch up with rising demand in 2016.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
