Boeing in 2015 delivers its most airliners ever

Boeing Co.’s newest airliner, the 787 Dreamliner, saw its highest number of deliveries and also had the largest year-over-year gain over all other Boeing models in 2015.

The Chicago-based company on Thursday reported its fourth-quarter and year-end deliveries for 2015.

Boeing said deliveries in the three-month quarter ended Dec. 31 totaled 182, compared with 195 in the same quarter in 2014, a nearly 7 percent drop.

But for all of 2015, total airplane deliveries rose 5 percent, from 723 in 2014 to 762. It was the most deliveries in Boeing’s 99-year history.

While Boeing saw higher deliveries among three of its five models, it was the 787 — first delivered in 2011 — that led the pack in terms of the largest gain. Boeing said it delivered 135 Dreamliners in 2015, compared with 114 in 2014, a difference of 21 planes.

That compares with the 737 and 767, of which Boeing delivered 10 more each in 2015 than in 2014. In 2015, the company delivered 495 737s and 16 767s.

In 2015, the company saw one less delivery of its 747 jumbo jet — 19 — and 777 — 98 — compared with 2014.

“The Boeing team has worked hard to achieve strong performance,” Ray Conner, Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and CEO, said Thursday in a news release. “Our team did a fantastic job achieving higher deliveries and getting our products to our customers as quickly and efficiently as possible. This will continue to be our focus.”

Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita manufactures parts of the fuselages, wings and engine housings for all Boeing airliners, including all of the 737’s fuselage.

Boeing’s chief competitor, Airbus, said Thursday that it would release its 2015 delivery numbers on Tuesday.

This story was originally published January 7, 2016 at 11:04 AM with the headline "Boeing in 2015 delivers its most airliners ever."