Boeing resuming widebody airplane deliveries to China, source says

By Allison Lampert and David Shepardson

SEATTLE/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Boeing is resuming widebody jet deliveries to China which were halted in recent weeks due to a Chinese regulatory review, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Orders of widebody 777 and 787 planes are expected to be delivered in the coming days, the source said. Deliveries of Boeing (NYSE:)’s 737 MAX are set to resume as early as next month, the source said.

The development is a boost to Boeing, which had flagged the delay to investors after Reuters first reported in May that the company’s plane deliveries to China had been temporarily halted. The halt was due to a review by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) of batteries contained in the 25-hour cockpit voice recorder.

Boeing directed a request for comment to the regulator.

The delays, combined with factory disruptions, led Boeing CFO Brian West in May to expect second-quarter cash burn in line with, or “possibly a little worse” than, the $3.9 billion in the first quarter.

In a year-end 2023 filing, Boeing said it had about 140 737 MAX 8 aircraft in inventory, including 85 aircraft for customers in China. Boeing delivered 22 aircraft to China between the start of 2024 and the end of April.

The Chinese review had impacted Boeing’s commercial jet deliveries, which are not expected to increase in the second quarter compared with the first three months of the year.