Boeing Finally Overtakes Airbus In Annual Sales Again

Boeing seems to finally be pulling out of its years-long nosedive. For 2025, the Washington planemaker tallied up 1,173 net orders for its civilian aircraft, exceeding its rival Airbus. The European company pulled in 889 net orders, a 31.9% advantage to Boeing. Clearly, after years of fatal crashes, panel blow-outs, and stranded astronauts, the manufacturer is starting to wash some of the stain off of its once sparkling reputation. This marks the first time Boeing has eclipsed Airbus in orders since 2018, the year that everything seemed to fall apart for the former.

Airbus still has plenty to celebrate, though. As CNBC points out, Airbus still delivered more actual planes than Boeing last year, 793 to 600. In other words, while Boeing's doing better on prospect, Airbus is still doing better in the present. Remember that 2025 is also the year that Airbus' A320 family flew past the Boeing 737 as the bestselling jetliner of all time. Meanwhile, the A321neo remains the single bestselling variant of all time. So Boeing still has its work cut out for it.

It's not just Airbus that Boeing has to worry about: there's also the U.S. government, which is impacting its biggest planemaker directly and indirectly. For one thing, ever since the crashes in 2018 and 2019, the FAA has restricted the number of 737s that Boeing can make per month. This is meant to ensure a focus on safety rather than production volume. The FAA is just starting to loosen those restrictions, and indications are that they might loosen further soon.

For another, the Department of Justice was trying to hold Boeing criminally liable for its fatal crashes. Then Donald Trump re-entered the White House, and suddenly, the DOJ thought Boeing was just fine, actually. U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor, who once said that "Boeing's crime may properly be considered the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history," begrudgingly dismissed the case at the DOJ's request. Coincidentally or not, right at the same time Qatar made the biggest plane purchase in history, all of Boeing aircraft, right as President Trump was visiting the country.

However, Boeing still can't get certifications for its newest 737 MAX variants or the 777X. These planes have been delayed for years after failing one safety test after another. The 777X delay alone is costing the company $5 billion. But if Boeing can actually, you know, make these planes safe to fly, they will be huge windfalls once they start getting delivered. Which should be just in the next few years, according to the company. Good thing there's not some sort of global trade war also getting in the way — Oh. Oh, darn.