Business
Boeing’s airplane deliveries are the highest in 7 years. Now it’s about to pick up the pace
A Boeing Co. 737 Max airplane at the company’s manufacturing facility in Renton, Washington, US, on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025.
David Ryder | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Boeing is set to report this week that it delivered the most airplanes since 2018 last year after it stabilized its production, the clearest sign of a turnaround yet after years of safety crises and snowballing quality defects.
Now, the aerospace giant is planning to ramp up production.
“It’s a long road back from a … shall we say, a rather dysfunctional culture, but they’re making big progress,” said Richard Aboulafia, managing director at AeroDynamic Advisory, an aerospace industry consulting firm.
Boeing was forced to scale back production in recent years following two fatal crashes of its popular 737 Max aircraft in 2018 and 2019 and a midair blowout of a door plug from one of its planes in the first week of 2024. The Covid pandemic snarled airplane assembly at both Boeing and its chief rival, Airbus, with supply chain delays and loss of experienced workers, even after the worst of the health crisis subsided.
A Boeing 737 approaches San Diego International for a landing, May 10, 2025.
Kevin Carter | Getty Images
Boeing’s leaders, including CEO Kelly Ortberg — a longtime aerospace executive who came out of retirement to take the top job months after the midair door plug accident — are gearing up to increase production this year of its cash cow 737 Max aircraft and the longer-range 787 Dreamliners.
That could help the manufacturer, the top U.S. exporter by value, return to profitability, as analysts expect this year, territory that was out of reach for seven years as its leaders focused on damage control and were stuck reassuring frustrated airline executives who were awaiting late planes.
Their tone has changed as Boeing has become more predictable and increased production, with the Federal Aviation Administration’s blessing. In a sign of the FAA’s increased confidence in Boeing, the agency in September said Boeing could issue its own air worthiness certificates before customers receive some of its 737s and 787s after years of restrictions.
Boeing’s commercial aircraft business is its largest unit, accounting for about 46% of sales in the first nine months of last year, with the rest coming from its defense and services business. Boeing last reported a full-year profit in 2018.
Investors are optimistic for further improvement. Boeing shares have gained 36% over the last 12 months, outpacing the S&P 500‘s nearly 20% advance.
“Boeing is definitely better and more stable,” said Bob Jordan, CEO of all-Boeing airline Southwest Airlines, in an interview Dec. 10.
The company is scheduled to outline its production plans for 2026 later this month when it reports quarterly results on Jan. 27.
Getting into gear
For Boeing, the recent turnaround has taken place largely on the assembly floor.
Under Ortberg, the manufacturer has slashed so-called traveled work, in which assembly tasks are done out of order, to avoid costly mistakes. The company has made other manufacturing changes, as well, including added training.
The National Transportation Safety Board in June said inadequate training and management oversight had been among the problems at the company, according to its investigation into what led to the door plug blowout in January 2024.
On Dec. 8, Boeing also completed its acquisition of fuselage maker Spirit AeroSystems, which Boeing had spun out of the company two decades ago. It now has more direct control of the crucial supplier.
Moving out jets
Boeing handed over 537 aircraft in the first 11 months of last year. It reports December deliveries on Tuesday, but Jefferies estimates the company delivered 61 commercial jets last month, 44 of them Boeing’s bestseller, the 737 Max.
Boeing delivered 348 aircraft in 2024 and 528 in 2023. Last year’s total would still be far off the 806 airplanes it handed over in 2018.
Last October, the FAA raised its production cap on Boeing’s 737 Max from 38 a month to 42. (The FAA required its sign-off after the door plug accident.) CFO Jay Malave said at a UBS conference on Dec. 2 that he expects the company to get to that rate in early 2026. Ortberg told investors in October that further rate increases are on the table, in increments of five planes.
Kelly Ortberg, chief executive officer of Boeing Co., during a media event at the Boeing Delivery Center in Seattle, Washington, US, on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026.
M. Scott Brauer | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Handovers to airlines in 2026 will likely be new production, compared with clearing out older inventory, Malave had said. Boeing is also likely to produce about eight Dreamliners a month as of early this year, he added.
Deliveries are key for airplane makers, because airlines and other customers pay the bulk of an airplane’s price when they receive the aircraft. Boeing’s chief competitor, Airbus, is scheduled to report 2025 orders and deliveries on Monday.
Still, several planes that were expected to already flying passengers aren’t certified yet, including the Boeing 777X as well as the Max 7 and Max 10 variants, depriving Boeing of cash and driving up costs.
Southwest is awaiting the delayed Max 7, the smallest plane of the Max family. The model is important for airline routes that have lower demand so airlines can avoid oversupplying the market with seats, pushing down fares.
Southwest CEO Jordan last month said that he doesn’t expect the airline to fly the Max 7 before the first half of 2027 as Boeing certification work continues. Boeing at one point expected it to enter service in 2019.
“They’re still very short in terms of delivering the aircraft that we need, but I’m glad to see the progress on the Max 7,” Jordan told CNBC.
Robust demand
Orders for both Boeing and Airbus jets look solid, with demand set to continue outstripping supply into the next decade, Bernstein aerospace analyst Douglas Harned said in a note last week.
Airbus outpaced Boeing in deliveries last year, though Boeing appears to have outsold its European competitor in new orders.
Through November, Boeing logged 1,000 gross orders compared with 797 from Airbus. Airline customers have started to look beyond this decade, snagging delivery slots into the mid-2030s as they plot out growth and international expansions.
On Wednesday, Alaska Airlines said it is ordering 105 Boeing 737 Max 10 jets, the longest aircraft of the Max group. Alaska fleet chief Shane Jones told CNBC the order is a sign of “our confidence in the Max 10 certification” as well as “our confidence in Boeing and their turnaround and their ability to produce quality aircraft on time.”
Alaska also exercised options for five 787 Dreamliners for more international routes just over a year after it acquired Hawaiian Airlines — a combination that handed Alaska more Dreamliners and Airbus A330s to reach for destinations that it couldn’t get to before, like Japan, South Korea and Italy.
The wide-body aircraft market is now picking up steam, said Ron Epstein, aerospace analyst at Bank of America, with orders starting to get handed over faster to customers.
International travel, especially at the high end, has been particularly strong in the years after the pandemic as travelers splash out on vacations around the world. More and more global airlines are looking at snagging long-haul jets like Boeing’s Dreamliner and Airbus’ A330 and A350s for the coming years, heating up the wide-body airplane market, analysts said.
Globally, airplanes flew nearly 84% full in November, the highest level on record, according to the latest data available from the International Air Transport Association, an airline industry group.
With travel demand still robust, orders to replace older jets and secure new ones will continue to fuel growth.
“The magic, if you will, of air transportation is until somebody comes up with a transporter, you know, [like] ‘Star Trek,’ where you sort of vaporize and show up someplace else, we’re going to be flying,” Epstein said.
Oil giant BP has said it is now set for an “exceptional” oil trading result in the first three months of the year after the Iran war sent the cost of crude soaring.
The FTSE 100 firm upgraded its first quarter oil trading guidance, which follows a “weak” out-turn for the division in the final quarter of 2025.
BP said it was seeing “impacts associated with the ongoing situation in the Middle East and the current market conditions resulting in heightened volatility in crude oil, natural gas and refined products prices in the latter part of the first quarter”.
“These market conditions are expected to impact financial results, including trading results and working capital movements,” it added, pointing to an increased impact of so-called price lags.
Oil prices have surged higher since the US-Israel war on Iran started on February 28 and are now more than 60% up so far this year.
Brent crude reached close to 120 US dollars a barrel at one stage and is still hovering around the 100 dollars level as peace talks falter and amid fears over a looming global energy supply crisis.
BP said Brent crude prices averaged 81.13 dollars a barrel over the first quarter as a whole, which includes just over four weeks of volatility caused by the Middle East conflict.
This is up sharply from 63.73 dollars a barrel in the previous three months.
Every one dollar movement per barrel in oil prices leads to a 340 million-dollar (£251 million) impact on pre-tax operating profits, according to BP.
BP said upstream production was now expected to be broadly flat compared with the previous quarter, while oil production would be slightly lower, adding that net debt was set to increase to between 25 and 27 billion US dollars (£18.5 billion to £20 billion), up from 22.2 billion dollars (£16.4 billion) in the fourth quarter.
The firm will report first quarter figures on April 28.
BP shares fell around 1% in Tuesday morning trading as oil prices edged below 100 US dollars a barrel on that latest hopes of a revival in US-Iran negotiations.
Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, said: “Crude prices have dipped back a little as hopes rise for fresh talks to end the Iran conflict, but the squeeze on energy supplies is likely to remain a disruptive force, and markets are set to stay jittery.
“BP’s trading update reflects this uncertainty, with the company highlighting that volatile commodity markets will be a key feature of its first-quarter results.”
She added that net debt at BP is rising “because more cash is being tied up in day-to-day operations”.
“As oil prices rise, BP is likely to need more money to hold the same barrels and to keep its trading activity running, which pushes up borrowing in the short term,” she said.
Fellow FTSE 100 oil major Shell last week also said the recent spike in prices was boosting trading in its chemical and products business, which includes oil trading.
But Shell cut its guidance for first quarter integrated gas production after volumes from Qatar were particularly impacted during recent attacks.
Last month, Shell’s PearlGTL site in Qatar stopped production after being hit during attacks while LNG facilities in the country partly owned by Shell have also been impacted.
BP’s upcoming first quarter results will be the first under new chief executive Meg O’Neill, who took over on April 1.
She replaced Murray Auchincloss, who was ousted last year as part of a leadership overhaul by new chairman Albert Manifold.
Business
UP hikes minimum wages across categories amid Noida protest: What workers will now earn – The Times of India
The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday approved an interim hike of around 21% in minimum wages for workers in Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad, following large-scale protests by thousands of factory workers in Noida. The fresh minimum wage structure introduced across worker categories, will be taking effect retrospectively from April 1. The agitation, which had been intensifying over several days, saw an estimated 40,000 to 45,000 workers assemble at nearly 80 to 83 locations across the Gautam Buddh Nagar commissionerate, including key industrial hubs such as Sector 62, Phase-2, Sector 63, Sector 60, Sector 84 and parts of Greater Noida. The revised wages were finalised by the high-powered committee and received approval late on Monday night. Gautam Buddh Nagar District Magistrate Medha Roopam said, “The wage increase has been done by the high-powered committee… The decision was approved by CM UP late last night.”
Breakdown: Who gets what
Gautam Buddh Nagar and GhaziabadThese regions have seen the sharpest revision:
- Unskilled workers will now be paid Rs 13,690 per month, up from Rs 11,313.
- Semi-skilled workers will receive Rs 15,059.
- Skilled workers will earn Rs 16,868 per month.
Other municipal corporation areas
- The new monthly wages stand at Rs 13,006 for unskilled workers.
- Semi-skilled workers will now earn Rs 14,306 every month.
- Skilled workers will be paid Rs 16,025.
In other districts
- Unskilled workers will now get Rs 12,356 per month.
- Semi-skilled workers will earn Rs 13,591.
- Skilled workers will see Rs 15,224 per month.
Additionally, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath has urged employers to ensure timely wage payments, provide appropriate overtime compensation, and guarantee weekly offs, bonuses and social security benefits, while also maintaining safe working conditions, especially for female workersThe wage revision comes after widespread protests by factory workers in Noida on Monday, where thousands raised demands for better pay and working conditions. Clashes broke out in parts of the district during the demonstrations, after which the government set up a committee to step in and facilitate discussions between workers and employers.The government said that it had assessed all feedback and objections before finalising the revision, aiming for the “balanced and practical” outcome.As per the official statement, the committee is working to resolve the issue through dialogue and coordination while considering measures to address industries dealing with global headwinds, including rising input costs and falling exports, even as workers’ demands on wages, overtime, safety and working conditions remain “relevant and important.”It further added that an interim wage revision linked to indexation is under consideration, and that the process for final wage determination will be taken up based on recommendations of a wage board to be formed soon.At the same time, the government rejected as “fake and misleading” social media claims suggesting a uniform minimum wage of Rs 20,000 per month, clarifying that no such order has been issued and that work on fixing a national “floor wage” is still underway at the central level.
Oil prices fell sharply on Tuesday despite heightened tensions in the Middle East, as markets bet on a possible diplomatic breakthrough between the United States and Iran even after Washington moved to block Iranian ports.
Brent crude dropped 2.7% to $96.66 a barrel, while US crude slid 3% to $96.13, with traders weighing signs that talks could still resume following the collapse of weekend negotiations.
Sources told Reuters that both sides have kept the door open to dialogue, while a US official pointed to forward movement towards a potential agreement.
The United States has continued to engage Tehran even as its military enforced a blockade of Iranian ports, a move aimed at increasing pressure after talks failed to deliver a deal.
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Iran had “called this morning” and “they’d like to work a deal”, although the claim could not be independently verified.
“The failed weekend talks did not produce a deal, but they also did not close the door on diplomacy, and that is enough for equities to keep pushing higher for now,” said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo.
Reflecting that optimism, Asian equities advanced in early trade. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1%, while Japan’s Nikkei and South Korea’s Kospi each gained more than 2%.
Futures also pointed to a steady global outlook, with Nasdaq futures up 0.13%, S&P 500 futures flat, EUROSTOXX 50 futures rising 0.63%, and DAX futures adding 0.77%, following an overnight rally on Wall Street.
The US dollar, often seen as a safe haven, weakened alongside oil as investors shifted towards riskier assets.
“Markets are trading hope, not resolution,” said Chanana.
Analysts said Washington’s blockade strategy could shift pressure onto Tehran without immediate escalation on the ground.
“The US has actually played that trump card… it’s now forced the Iranians back to the drawing board,” said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG.
Dollar on backfoot
The dollar fell to a 1-1/2-month low of 98.328 against a basket of currencies on Tuesday, as buoyant risk sentiment dampened demand for the world’s reserve currency.
That left the euro trading 0.05% higher at $1.1764 while sterling GBP= rose to a more than six-week peak of $1.3514.
“The US and Iran have started to walk down the path of coming up to an agreement,” said Joseph Capurso, a strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
However, “the markets are still facing a global economic outlook that is deteriorating, and I think the risks are high that you get equity markets and credit markets and the like fall again, and that would push up the US dollar against probably all currencies.”
US Treasury yields were little changed, with the two-year yield last at 3.7722% while the benchmark 10-year yield stood at 4.2854%.
The inflationary pulse from the steep rise in energy prices has prompted investors to prepare for the possibility that a number of major central banks will lean towards raising rates, marking a sharp reversal from expectations before the war for rate cuts or a prolonged pause.
Elsewhere, spot gold was up 0.7% at $4,771.81 an ounce.
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