Boeing plane orders hit 16-year low

Orders for Boeing planes fell to a 16-year low in 2019 after two crashes of the 737 Max aircraft killed 346 people and led to the worldwide grounding of the plane, costing the company nearly $10 billion and its title as the world's largest aircraft manufacturer.

Before the cancellations, Boeing said it had received 246 orders for all types of new planes last year, the lowest number since 2003. Prior to 2019, Boeing had booked orders for about 4,500 Max jets, or enough to keep the production line running for seven to 10 years. However, Boeing last month temporarily halted production because it has about 400 completed but undelivered planes in storage.

Boeing said on Tuesday that it delivered 380 planes last year, including 127 Max jets. That's about 44 percent of the 863 planes delivered by European rival Airbus, now the world's largest aircraft builder.

Last year, Airbus delivered 690 single-aisle planes that compete with the 737 Max, Boeing's top seller. It's unclear when the US Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, and regulators around the world will approve the Max's return to the sky after crashes in Indonesia in 2018 and Ethiopia in 2019.

Last year, Boeing delivered 158 long-haul, twin-aisle Dreamliners. That's 13 more than in 2018, and 80 more large planes of all types than Airbus delivered in 2019.

In midday trading, Boeing's stock ticked up on Tuesday on news of strong Dreamliner deliveries; it closed the day at $332.35, up $2.13 a share, or 0.65 percent. The 52-week range is $319.55 to $446.01.

David Calhoun took over as Boeing's CEO on Monday and immediately faces new problems.

Moody's Investors Service said on Monday that it placed Boeing's debt on a 90-day review for a possible downgrade. Less than a month ago, Moody's cut Boeing's credit rating by one grade as problems regarding the Max drag on longer than anticipated. The lower bond rating means Boeing must pay more to borrow.

"Recent developments suggest a more costly and protracted recovering for Boeing to restore confidence with its various market constituents, and an ensuing period of heightened operational and financial risk, even if certification of the Max comes relatively near term, as expected," Moody's analyst Jonathan Root said in a note to investors.

In emails Boeing disclosed last week, some employees mocked the FAA, questioned the need for additional flight simulator training for pilots and called the staff of Lion Air, the Indonesian airline involved in the first crash, "idiots" for asking for additional training in the Max jets.

In one exchange reported by Bloomberg News and Forbes on Monday, an unnamed Boeing employee wrote: "Now friggin' (Lion Air) might need a sim (flight simulator, a ground-based, computer-driven mock-up of the Max's cockpit controls) to fly the Max and maybe because of their own stupidity. I'm scrambling trying to figure out how to unscrew this now! Idiots."

Another employee responded: "But their sister airline is already flying it!"－an apparent reference to Malaysian carrier Malindo Air.

Lion Air declined to respond when asked if it were the airline named in the messages, but people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that Lion Air had asked about simulator training before accepting Boeing's word that it was not necessary.

Earlier this month, Boeing reversed itself and said it would recommend pilots receive flight simulator training before flying the Max.

A report on the October 2018 crash of the Lion Air flight criticized Boeing for not telling airlines about the Max's new anti-stall device.

Investigators believe the Max's automated anti-stall device erroneously pointed the nose of the planes down to avoid a midair stall and into a fatal plunge. Boeing has updated the system's anti-stall software, but the FAA has not yet approved it.

In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Boeing said new CEO Calhoun will receive a $7 million bonus if he secures regulatory approval for the Max to return to commercial service. Some lawmakers criticized the deal.