Boeing Posts Best First-Half Deliveries in 8 Years as 737 MAX Roars Back

Boeing’s H1 2026 haul: 314 aircraft, its best since 2018, as a resurgent 737 MAX powers the manufacturer’s post-grounding comeback.

Boeing delivered 314 commercial aircraft in the first half of 2026, its strongest first-half total since 2018, as a resurgent 737 MAX program powered the manufacturer’s clearest production recovery yet.

The milestone, announced July 14, marks the clearest evidence yet that Boeing’s yearslong recovery — derailed by the 737 MAX’s 2019 grounding, the COVID-19 pandemic and a 2024 production-quality crisis — is gaining real traction. The 314 deliveries mark a 12% increase over the 280 aircraft Boeing delivered in the same period of 2025.

Boeing still trails European rival Airbus, which delivered 351 aircraft over the same six months. But the year-over-year gain suggests Boeing’s output is accelerating, and the first-half total already equals more than half of the 600 commercial aircraft Boeing delivered in all of 2025.

The 737 MAX accounted for 243 of the 314 deliveries, or 77% of the total, according to figures Boeing released July 14. The 787 Dreamliner added 40 deliveries, or 12% of the total, followed by 16 767s and 15 777s. In the second quarter alone, Boeing handed over 171 commercial jets, with the 737 MAX again dominating at 129, or 74% of the quarterly total.

June was Boeing’s strongest month of the year, with 64 commercial deliveries, up from 60 in May and 60 in June 2025. The June total included 42 737 MAX jets, 13 787 Dreamliners — two of them delivered to Saudi startup carrier Riyadh Air, marking the carrier’s first Dreamliner handovers ahead of its July 1 launch — three 777 freighters and five 767s, three of which are slated for conversion into KC-46 Pegasus aerial refueling tankers for the U.S. Air Force.

Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg has pointed to improving output as evidence the company’s turnaround is holding. Ortberg said during an April 22 CNBC interview: “We are receiving very positive feedback regarding the quality of our airplanes.”

The 737 MAX’s order book also crossed a symbolic threshold. Total orders for the MAX reached 7,206, surpassing the 7,159 orders logged by the previous-generation 737NG and making the MAX Boeing’s best-selling aircraft family ever. Boeing’s total commercial backlog stood at 6,202 aircraft at the end of June, up from 6,178 at the end of May, with roughly 4,400 of those aircraft on order for the 737 MAX alone.

Boeing’s Defense, Space & Security division added 65 major program deliveries in the first half, including AH-64 Apache helicopters, CH-47 Chinook helicopters, F-15 and F/A-18 fighter jets, KC-46 tankers, MH-139 helicopters and P-8 patrol aircraft.

On July 6, Boeing began operations on a fourth 737 MAX final assembly line, dubbed the North Line, at its factory in Everett, Washington — the first time 737s have been built there. Production of the jet had previously been concentrated at Boeing’s Renton, Washington, plant. The North Line will initially build the 737-8, 737-9 and 737-10 models and is capable of producing all MAX variants, though Boeing does not expect it to contribute to rate increases before early 2027, when the company aims to raise output to 52 jets a month. Boeing is also studying whether it could eventually push the long-term rate as high as 70 aircraft a month.

Speaking at an investor conference on May 27, Ortberg said Boeing had cleared a Federal Aviation Administration capstone review needed to raise 737 production to 47 jets a month: “We have successfully completed the capstone review for the 47-unit production rate, and we are now in the phase of operating the assembly line at that level.” He added that Boeing eventually aims for a much higher rate: “We aspire to eventually reach a production rate of 63 units per month, and we are eager for that. The market can accommodate those elevated production levels.”

The path to that rate was briefly interrupted in March, when Boeing discovered minor wiring abrasions caused by a machining error on a batch of newly built 737 MAX jets. The company said at the time: “Our 737 program is undertaking rework on a batch of aircraft to address wires that have minor abrasions caused by a machining mistake.” Boeing paused ticketing and deliveries of the affected aircraft, and the disruption did not alter the company’s full-year guidance of roughly 500 737 deliveries in 2026.

Boeing characterized the July 14 delivery figures as preliminary, pending official second-quarter financial results scheduled for July 28. Airbus has not publicly addressed Boeing’s first-half milestone; the European planemaker separately reported its own 351 deliveries to 77 customers for the first half, keeping it ahead of Boeing in the head-to-head race.

Southwest Airlines, the launch customer for the still-uncertified 737 MAX 7, does not plan to add the variant to its fleet in 2026 and does not expect its first revenue flights on the jet before 2027.

Federal regulators are working through certification of two more MAX variants. The 737 MAX 7 is expected to win FAA approval in August, while the larger 737 MAX 10 is expected to follow by the end of the year, according to the agency. The MAX 7 was originally slated to enter service in 2022 but has faced repeated delays tied to engine de-icing certification issues.

The current recovery follows years of upheaval for Boeing’s best-selling jet. The 737 MAX was grounded worldwide in March 2019 after two fatal crashes, and the FAA did not recertify the aircraft until November 2020. A door plug blew out on an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 in January 2024, prompting the FAA to cap production at 38 jets a month. Regulators did not clear Boeing to exceed that cap until October 2025, when the rate rose to 42 a month, ahead of May’s increase to 47.

In July, leasing firm Aviation Capital Group signed a long-term lease agreement with WestJet for 13 Boeing 737-10 aircraft.

Airbus, meanwhile, has set a 2026 full-year delivery target of 870 aircraft, a goal industry analysts have questioned given global supply chain and financial pressures facing the sector.

Reflecting on the broader turnaround earlier this year, Ortberg struck a cautious tone, saying in January: “To continue our turnaround, we still have important work ahead of us — perhaps even more than what we accomplished last year.”