American aviation giant Boeing, in July 2026, delivered 53 jets, five more than the similar period a year earlier. However, the planemaker fell short of the June 2026 figure of 64 jets. To complicate things further, European rival Airbus delivered 67 planes in July.
Boeing also booked 30 new orders after adjusting for cancellations in July, which include a handful of orders announced during a subdued Farnborough Airshow. Airbus, on the other hand, booked 204 orders in the same month. For the venture, the ratio brought the total this year to 1,024, or 1,090 after adjustments including the cancellations of 15 A330neos for AirAsia X as part of a deal to buy 150 A220s.
Boeing’s July deliveries included 39 of its best-selling 737 MAX jet and 10 787s, as well as one 777 freighter and three 767s.
Taking the July numbers in consideration, Boeing has delivered 367 jets so far in 2026, including 279 737 MAX and 50 787 jets.
Boeing’s biggest order announcement at Farnborough was for 100 737 MAX jets from Irish leasing giant SMBC Aviation, the world’s second-largest leasing company. That order, though, was booked in June as from an unidentified customer.
Till July 2026, Boeing has booked more than 130 orders for the 737-10, the largest MAX variant, according to the company.
Talking about Airbus, the European planemaker needs to deliver an average of 90 jets a month between now and the rest of the year to meet its target after posting flat deliveries in July, as per the latest company data.
At its recent earnings results, the European planemaker sounded confident of reaching its full-year target of around 870 deliveries and took a more conciliatory tone towards Pratt & Whitney in the current dispute over engine supplies.
Airbus’ July deliveries of 67 jets remained unchanged from the same month in 2025, bringing the total for the year so far to 418 jets following a slow start.
While CEO Guillaume Faury said that the wording of the company’s target of “around 870” aircraft was consistent with deliveries up to 890 units, as per the reports, Airbus is internally pushing staff to achieve more than 900 deliveries by the year-end.
Airbus is also consolidating its dominant position in China, with new orders from Hainan Airlines and China Eastern. Like Boeing, the European venture too gained from SMBC Aviation’s buying spree, as it secured orders for 100 A320neo-family jets.
Talking about 737 MAX, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has already given its approval for the American giant’s best-selling narrowbody variant, after the MAX7 version cleared the stringest certification process involving incorporating and validating key improvements, while addressing recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board, including updates to the flight-control software, flight crew alerting system, and a redesigned engine anti-ice system.
The process came after two fatal MAX 8 crashes in 2018 and 2019, along with the scrutiny of the company’s production and quality systems after a January 2024 mid-air cabin panel blowout on a nearly new Alaska Airlines MAX 9.
After clearing the years-long regulator review, Boeing will now be ramping up its preparations to support the aircraft’s first deliveries. The MAX 7 offers 135 to 160 seats while providing about 10% more range potential than other MAX planes. The Boeing 737 MAX 7 began testing in 2018.
Boeing and Southwest Airlines, the 737 MAX 7 launch customer, are now preparing for delivery of the first unit. The budget carrier does not have the MAX 7 on its current schedule, which is through March 2027.
Stephanie Pope, Boeing’s head of commercial airplanes, told employees in a memo that the planemaker learned “important lessons that we are already applying to the 737-10 and that are accelerating our work as we complete the 737 MAX airplane family and then the 777X programs.”
As per the data from the aviation analytics firm Cirium, Boeing has already built about 30 MAX 7s and nine MAX 10s, which are awaiting delivery. The MAX 10 accounts for at least 28% of outstanding MAX orders.
As per the FAA’s December 2025 statement, the MAX 10 would have an enhanced flight crew alerting system, which will include a way to shut off stall warning and overspeed alerts. The regulator, during last year, gave Boeing approval to raise its 737 MAX production to 42 planes per month, ending a 38-plane cap put in place since January 2024 after the Alaska incident. In March 2026, the vehicle was allowed to hike the monthly production ratio to 47.