Boeing and Airbus add new orders in May as traffic picks up

Boeing and Airbus have added new orders in May as traffic around the world picks up. Boeing reported 73 gross new orders according to Seeking Alpha, including 61 for its MAX aircraft as well as widebody passenger and freighter aircraft, to prepare for a rebound in air travel. There were however 53 order cancellations and conversions, with Boeing booking 20 new aircraft orders, the company's fourth straight month of net positive orders. For the year so far Boeing has now totaled 380 aircraft orders on a gross basis, with 177 sales net of cancellations, expanding its lead over Airbus which has 31 more cancellations than gross sales so far says Seeking Alpha. But it reports deliveries are a very different matter, with Airbus shipping 50 aircraft vs. Boeing's 17 last month, bringing the YTD delivery total to 111, as Boeing grapples with production problems and heightened scrutiny from U.S. regulators. Boeing has a backlog of 4,121 planes as of the end of May, up from 4,045 a month earlier. READ: Flexibility in booking your next holiday is Qatar Airways' promise. The company actually has a backlog of 4,983 aircraft but an ASC 606 adjustment says 862 are at risk of cancellation, leaving the net 4,121. Airbus said it delivered 50 aircraft in May, bringing its YTD total up 38 percent from a year ago. Seeking Alpha says the European aerospace giant also reported seven orders and three cancellations for May. "Deliveries included the first A380 superjumbo to Emirates Airlines since December and confirmation of an order of five A350 wide-bodied jets from Lufthansa, with the actual net addition of two A350 jets after the cancellation of three previous orders," Seeking Alpha said. Lufthansa also order five 787s from Boeing. May's tally lifts Airbus' YTD deliveries to 220 aircraft vs. 160 for the same period last year.