Boeing closed the books on 2014 with a total of 1,432 new firm orders added to a record backlog, which is about twice what executives forecast last January.
"In the face of fierce competition, we had a strong year," says Ray Conner, president and chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Last January, Boeing executives forecasted a book-to-bill ratio of about 1:1, with orders roughly matching deliveries of 723 aircraft in 2014.
Airbus plans to release 2014 order totals next week, but reported 1,031 net orders from January to November.
The vast majority of Boeing’s bookings came from the single-aisle market. The current models and the future, re-engined Max variant combined to amass 1,104 net orders in 2014.
On the other side, the 747-8 programme ended 2014 with no new firm orders added and a backlog of 36 aircraft. Although Boeing added two orders in 2014, customers cancelled orders for two 747-8s during the year as well.
The current and re-engined 777 programmes, meanwhile, added 283 new orders with no cancellations, raising the backlog to 564 aircraft.
On the 787 programme, the company added 65 gross orders, but cancellations reduced the net order tally to 41. The backlog at the end of 2014 stood at 843 aircraft.
The 767 programme added four new orders in 2014, raising the backlog to 47.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
