After years of safety crises, quality setbacks, and production turmoil, Boeing appears to have turned a critical corner. The aerospace giant delivered more commercial aircraft in 2025 than in any year since 2018, marking the clearest evidence yet of a sustained recovery.
Preliminary figures show Boeing handed over approximately 600 commercial jets during the year, with December alone seeing at least 63 deliveries. That compares with 348 aircraft in 2024 and 528 in 2023, still well below the pre-crisis peak of 806 in 2018, but a meaningful step forward nonetheless.
The improvement stems from painstaking work on the factory floor. Under new CEO Kelly Ortberg, who assumed leadership shortly after the January 2024 midair door-plug incident on a 737 Max 9, the company has aggressively reduced “traveled work”- tasks performed out of sequence that often lead to costly rework. Additional training, improved quality controls, and tighter management oversight have also played important roles.
A landmark development came in December 2025 when Boeing completed its acquisition of Spirit AeroSystems, the fuselage manufacturer it had spun off two decades earlier. Bringing that critical supplier back in-house gives the company far greater control over one of the most important elements of 737 production.
Regulatory confidence has followed. In September 2025, the Federal Aviation Administration permitted Boeing to issue its own airworthiness certificates for certain 737s and 787s, ending years of heightened scrutiny. The FAA also increased the monthly production cap on the 737 Max from 38 to 42 aircraft late in the year.
Customer sentiment is shifting as well. Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan, whose carrier operates an all-Boeing fleet, remarked in December that “Boeing is definitely better and more stable,” even while acknowledging that deliveries of the long-delayed 737 Max 7 are not expected before the first half of 2027.
The commercial airplanes division, which accounted for roughly 46 percent of Boeing’s revenue in recent periods, remains the company’s largest business segment and the key to returning to profitability. Boeing has not posted a full-year profit since 2018, but analysts now widely expect the manufacturer to achieve that milestone in 2026.
Wall Street has taken notice. Boeing shares have risen 36 percent over the past twelve months, comfortably outpacing the broader market.
Underpinning the optimism is exceptionally strong demand that continues to outstrip supply. Through November 2025, Boeing recorded 1,000 gross orders, surpassing Airbus’s 797. Carriers are locking in delivery positions well into the mid-2030s, reflecting confidence in long-term growth and the need to replace aging fleets.
International travel, particularly in premium cabins, remains robust in the post-pandemic era. Global passenger load factors reached a record 84 percent in November, according to the International Air Transport Association. Widebody demand, including for the 787 Dreamliner, is accelerating as airlines expand long-haul networks.
Boeing is preparing to capitalize on this momentum. The company expects to reach the new 42-per-month rate for the 737 Max in early 2026, with further incremental increases of five aircraft per month possible thereafter. Dreamliner production is targeted at approximately eight units monthly beginning this year. Importantly, 2026 deliveries are expected to come primarily from new production rather than inventory backlogs.
Challenges remain. Certification of the 777X widebody and the smaller Max 7 and larger Max 10 variants continues to lag, delaying revenue and frustrating customers who need those aircraft for specific route economics.
Even so, the trajectory is encouraging. As longtime aerospace analyst Richard Aboulafia recently observed, Boeing has traveled “a long road back from a rather dysfunctional culture,” but the progress is substantial and increasingly visible.
When Boeing reports quarterly results on January 27, 2026, the market will hear detailed production guidance for the year ahead. If the company can maintain its recent discipline and continue earning regulatory and customer trust, 2026 could mark the moment Boeing finally shifts from recovery mode to genuine growth
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