Boeing has a sizeable backlog of airplane orders. The US planemaker has 5,070 aircraft on order yet to be delivered as of the end of July 2021. We take a look at the largest unfilled orders to see which customers are anticipating the most Boeing aircraft over the coming years.
Unidentified customers – 689 737 MAX
The largest unfilled orders are attributed not to one customer, but to many. Some orders are made without the customer being revealed, and these show up on Boeing’s order book as ‘Unidentified Customers.’ These could be commercial airlines or leasing firms, and until such time as they wish to be disclosed, we won’t know who is behind them.
The very largest outstanding order on Boeing’s book is for the 737 MAX, with 689 units ordered by unidentified customers. However, this is likely to be a group of customers rather than just one, so we’ll leave it up to you to decide whether this counts as an ‘order’ or not.
Unidentified customers also have outstanding orders for the 787-9 (33 units), the 787-10 (18 units), the 777F (10 units), and the 777X (10 units). Also in there are eight 787-8s, six 767-300F, two 737-800, and single units of the 777-300ER, the 747-8, and the 737-700.
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United Airlines’ huge order – 380 737 MAX
The largest unfulfilled order on Boeing’s books for a named customer is the huge 380 aircraft outstanding 737 MAX order for United Airlines. The airline made waves earlier this year when it placed the largest order in its history and the biggest by a single carrier in more than a decade.
In June, it ordered a total of 270 aircraft for its fleet renewal. As well as 70 A321neos, the order contained an additional 200 737 MAX. Combined with its existing order, that took the airline’s…