Boeing’s orders and deliveries sank in Q1, with zero new orders for the 737 MAX following a worldwide grounding in March in the wake of two fatal plane crashes. The groundings forced Boeing to freeze deliveries of the MAX, which had been its fastest-selling jetliner until a March 10 crash on Ethiopian Airlines that killed all 157 onboard, just five months after a similar crash on Lion Air that killed all 189 passengers and crew. Total orders, an indication of future demand, fell to 95 aircraft in tQ1 from 180 a year earlier, suggesting a wait-and-watch approach for airlines as Boeing rides out the worst crisis in its history. Still, Boeing is ahead of its European rival Airbus, which last week said it had won 62 gross orders during the first three months of 2019 but some 120 cancellations left it with a negative net order. Boeing’s Q1 737 deliveries tumbled about 33%, pushing total aircraft deliveries down 19% to 149 from a year earlier. Boeing delivered just 11 MAX in March before the suspension. Deliveries are financially important because that is when planemakers receive the bulk of money from airlines’ purchases. It is still unclear when the MAX jets will fly again.<br/>
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Boeing’s legal troubles grew Tuesday as a new lawsuit accused the company of defrauding shareholders by concealing safety deficiencies in its 737 MAX planes before two fatal crashes led to their worldwide grounding. The proposed class action filed in Chicago federal court seeks damages for alleged securities fraud violations, after Boeing’s market value tumbled by $34b within two weeks of the March 10 crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX. CE Dennis Muilenburg and CFO Gregory Smith were also named as defendants. Boeing spokesman Charles Bickers had no immediate comment. According to the complaint, Boeing “effectively put profitability and growth ahead of airplane safety and honesty” by rushing the 737 MAX to market to compete with Airbus SE, while leaving out “extra” or “optional” features designed to prevent the Ethiopian Airlines and Lion Air crashes. It also said Boeing’s statements about its growth prospects and the 737 MAX were undermined by its alleged conflict of interest from retaining broad authority from federal regulators to assess the plane’s safety. <br/>
China, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), Ethiopia, Indonesia and at least five other major regulators are expected to join the US FAA’s review panel on the Boeing 737 MAX, officials said Tuesday. China confirmed on Tuesday it would join the review, while Canada, the United Arab Emirates, and Singapore previously said that they would join the panel. Officials told Reuters that Australia, EASA, Brazil, Indonesia and Ethiopia are also expected to take part. Former NTSB Chairman Christopher Hart, who is chairing the review, told reporters on Friday that it would begin later in April and would take about 90 days. Hart said the review is in response “to the growing need for globalization ... because these airplanes are all over the place” and to the need for a “uniform response.” The FAA said last week it was forming an international team to review the safety of the aircraft, grounded worldwide following two deadly crashes.<br/>
The US and the EU are preparing to impose tit-for-tat tariffs on each other’s products, the latest escalation in a 14-year fight over government aid given to Boeing and rival Airbus. “The World Trade Organization finds that the European Union subsidies to Airbus has adversely impacted the United States, which will now put Tariffs on $11 Billion of E.U. products!” President Trump said in a tweet Tuesday. “The EU has taken advantage of the US on trade for many years. It will soon stop!” The United States Trade Representative said on Monday night that it was preparing a list of European products to tax as retaliation for European subsidies to Airbus, which the WTO ruled were illegal in May 2018. That prompted the EU to announce that it was also readying a list of tariffs to counter American subsidies to Boeing.<br/>