Boeing deliveries hammered by 737 MAX groundings

Boeing handed over 24% fewer jet airplanes in the first 4 months of 2019 compared with the same period a year earlier as the grounding of its top-selling 737 MAX aircraft halted deliveries for a second month. As expected, the company took no new orders in April for the narrowbody jets as it continues to work on a software fix for the plane's anti-stall system MCAS. Deliveries of the aircraft were stopped in early March, a few days after an Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed. Last month Boeing abandoned its 2019 financial outlook, halted share buybacks and said lowered production of the fastest-selling 737 MAX jets in the wake of the groundings had cost it at least US$1b. Boeing had also removed 206 planes from its order backlog last month due to the near-collapse of Jet Airways. <br/>