Boeing has surpassed Airbus after years behind. That doesn’t mean I’ve regained control.

The rivalry between Boeing and Airbus has been marking the pulse of commercial aviation for decades, but it cannot always be summarized in a simple classification. Sometimes, a piece of information seems to announce a change of era and, when we look closer, what appears is something much less resounding. That’s just what happens with the first quarter of 2026: Boeing has managed to overcome to Airbus in deliveries, yes, but it is worth looking at what is behind that advantage before reading it as proof that the American manufacturer has left its problems behind.

The photography. The start of 2026 is based on a clear difference in deliveries: Boeing placed 143 commercial aircraft in the hands of its customers between January and March, compared to 114 for Airbus. The data has weight in itself because it puts an end to a long period in which Airbus had remained ahead of Boeing in deliveries. In practice, the American giant supported this result especially in the 737, with 114 units delivered, while Airbus once again concentrated the bulk of its activity in the A320 family, with 81 aircraft.

The Airbus bottleneck. If we want to understand why Airbus has been left behind at the start of 2026, the focus is not so much on a drop in demand as on a supply problem. According to Reutersthe European manufacturer has a traffic jam linked to Pratt & Whitney, one of its engine suppliers, immersed in the correction of around 1,200 units affected by a manufacturing defect. While that process is still underway, the production of new engines slows down and Airbus can advance the manufacturing of those planes, but not always complete delivery at the expected pace until those systems arrive.

Reality, in context.. That Boeing has closed this quarter ahead, in any case, does not mean that it has resolved the core of its problems. Let us remember that the manufacturer comes from years marked by the 737 MAX crisis, triggered by the accidents of Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302in which 346 people died, and for the subsequent stoppage of that program. Added to this are more recent difficulties: Boeing already warned last month that 737 production will slow while it addresses certain wiring issues.

Before this long cycle change, Boeing’s position on deliveries was very different. In January 2018, Boeing reported that it had closed 2017 with 763 commercial aircraft delivered, a record for the industry at the time and its sixth consecutive year leading this field. That year also left 912 net orders valued at $134.8 billion at list prices and a portfolio of 5,864 aircraft. Seen from today, that starting point helps to better measure to what extent the balance between both manufacturers changed in very few years.

The context is not so far away: It is worth remembering that this rivalry left another very significant milestone in October 2025, when the Airbus A320 became the most delivered aircraft in history by surpassing the Boeing 737. That was not just a symbolic matter: it reflected the extent to which the problems of the 737 MAX had altered Boeing’s trajectory and the extent to which Airbus had managed to keep up with the A320neo family.

The next industrial duel: If we project our gaze a little, the board also begins to move at another very specific point: the future entry on the scene of the 777X. Boeing plans to deliver it in 2027 as a late competitor to the A350, after accumulating delays that are already part of the program’s recent history. For Boeing, this arrival could be important because it would open a new opportunity to rebalance forces in the long haul. But Airbus also continues to move forward.

Images | Tienko Dima | Jan Rosolino

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