Boeing aircraft cancellations continue to outpace new orders

Boeing logged orders for new freighter planes in May, but cancellations continued to outpace new business as the coronavirus roils the air travel industry.

The company reported nine orders and twice as many cancellations, which included a switch of a delivery slot for a 747 freighter for UPS, the company said.

The scrapped orders included 14 of its 737 Max planes, the beleaguered plane that has been grounded since March 2019 after two fatal crashes killed 346 people.

Boeing’s backlog shrunk to 4,744 planes, the lowest since 2013, including orders Boeing periodically removes from its tally due to financial trouble or other factors at some customers, a practice it didn’t have in place seven years ago.

Boeing shares were off 2.9{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} in late-morning trading.

The manufacturer’s stock has rallied close to 70{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} over the past month as signs of passengers returning to air travel lifted the sector, but its shares are still down more than 30{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} so far this year.