Revived Qatar order caps Boeing air show fightback

Boeing secured a revived order for 25 of its 737 MAX 10 airliners from Qatar Airways on Thursday, as the return of Britain's Farnborough Airshow this week offered hope for the largest version of the planemaker’s troubled best-seller. Two fatal 737 MAX crashes, an almost two-year worldwide grounding of the plane, and then the global pandemic have left the aviation industry reeling, with rebounding demand now stretching airlines, airports and parts supply. Qatar Airways Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker signed the MAX deal in front of reporters at a ceremony delayed by nail-biting last-minute negotiations. The order, worth $3.4b at list prices, capped a largely one-sided show dominated by Boeing's efforts to shore up the MAX 10, whose future lies partly in the hands of regulators and Congress. Even so, analysts said the world's joint-largest aerospace event, which alternates with the biennnial Paris Airshow, was muted this year, with only patchy orders compared with previous events and only the freak hot weather approaching past records.<br/>