The Boeing Co. booked its first order of 2004 on Wednesday when Canadian airline WestJet announced it would buy seven 737-700s.
The company also quietly closed the books on 2003, a year in which Airbus appears to have topped Boeing in orders for the second year in a row.
The WestJet deal has a list price of $360 million, although it’s likely the airline got a discount. The Calgary-based low-fare carrier operates a fleet of 44 737s.
Boeing closed 2003 with a net of 239 orders, down from the 2002 total of 251.
It was the third year in a row that Boeing’s orders have declined, and it was Boeing’s lowest order total since 1994, when airlines ordered only 125 planes as the industry rebounded from the first Gulf War.
Airbus has yet to report its year-end order total, but as of Dec. 23, it had reported 263. That indicates that in 2003, the European jet builder recorded more orders than Boeing for the third time in the past four years.
Of Boeing’s 2003 orders, the vast majority — 206 — were for 737s.
Orders for Everett-built widebody jets fell off sharply from 2002.
Boeing took orders for only four 747s, down from 17 the year before, while orders for 777s dropped from 17 to 12.
Boeing’s 767 orders increased slightly, from eight to 10.
Korean Air was the biggest buyer of widebody jets, ordering two 747s and nine 777s.
All Nippon Airways was Boeing’s best customer in 2002, ordering 45 737s.
The rest of the year’s biggest orders came from low-fare carriers — AirTran (28 737s and six 717s) and Southwest Airlines (24 737s) in the United States; and RyanAir (22 737s) in Ireland.The Boeing Co. booked its first order of 2004 on Wednesday when Canadian airline WestJet announced it would buy seven 737-700s.
The company also quietly closed the books on 2003, a year in which Airbus appears to have topped Boeing in orders for the second year in a row.
The WestJet deal has a list price of $360 million, although it’s likely the airline got a discount. The Calgary-based low-fare carrier operates a fleet of 44 737s.
Boeing closed 2003 with a net of 239 orders, down from the 2002 total of 251.
It was the third year in a row that Boeing’s orders have declined, and it was Boeing’s lowest order total since 1994, when airlines ordered only 125 planes as the industry rebounded from the first Gulf War.
Airbus has yet to report its year-end order total, but as of Dec. 23, it had reported 263. That indicates that in 2003, the European jet builder recorded more orders than Boeing for the third time in the past four years.
Of Boeing’s 2003 orders, the vast majority — 206 — were for 737s.
Orders for Everett-built widebody jets fell off sharply from 2002.
Boeing took orders for only four 747s, down from 17 the year before, while orders for 777s dropped from 17 to 12.
Boeing’s 767 orders increased slightly, from eight to 10.
Korean Air was the biggest buyer of widebody jets, ordering two 747s and nine 777s.
All Nippon Airways was Boeing’s best customer in 2002, ordering 45 737s.
The rest of the year’s biggest orders came from low-fare carriers — AirTran (28 737s and six 717s) and Southwest Airlines (24 737s) in the United States; and RyanAir (22 737s) in Ireland.
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