Boeing orders, deliveries continue to sag with Max grounding

Orders and deliveries of new Boeing planes remain depressed eight months into the grounding of the company’s 737 Max, leaving Boeing far behind its chief competitor.

Boeing said Tuesday that an aircraft-leasing company replaced an order for 15 Max jets with an order of five 787s, a larger plane used mostly on international routes. Another customer dropped an order for three Max planes after ordering a larger Boeing 777 earlier this year.

Chicago-based Boeing said it took 10 new orders in October, down from 24 in the same month last year, which included 14 Max jets.

The company delivered 20 commercial planes last month, including 12 for the 787, which Boeing calls the Dreamliner. That is down from 57 a year earlier, a decline that hurts Boeing’s cash flow because customers pay much of the purchase price on delivery, Boeing burned through $2.9 billion in cash in the third quarter, compared with generating $4.1 billion in free cash flow a year earlier, and it took on $5.5 billion in new debt.

European rival Airbus said it took 415 orders in October, with 300 coming in one deal with IndiGo. The Indian discount carrier ordered planes in the Airbus A320neo family, planes that compete with the Max. Airbus said it delivered 77 airliners last month, including 56 in the neo category.

The Max has been grounded since March after two accidents killed 346 people. On Monday, Boeing said it hopes to resume deliveries of the Max in December and win Federal Aviation Administration approval of changes to the plane and a pilot-training course in January, clearing the way for the plane to return to service in the United States.

Regulators in other countries are expected to take longer.