Boeing delivered 161 commercial aircraft in the third quarter of 2026, the company announced on 13 October. That is one more than in the same quarter a year earlier, which sounds unexciting until you look at what is inside the number: the most 737 MAX deliveries Boeing has ever made in the first nine months of a year.

The quarter also gives a rare look at Boeing's defence side, where the KC-46 tanker was the busiest line, and at the stubborn gap with Airbus, which is still delivering and selling more aircraft.

The 737 Is Carrying the Year

Of the 161 commercial jets, 124 were 737s, more than three in every four. According to The Spokesman-Review, Boeing made 363 MAX deliveries from January to September, the highest total for that period since MAX deliveries began in May 2017, and up from 325 a year earlier. Monthly MAX deliveries ran at 42 in June, 39 in July, 41 in August and 43 in September.

The bigger target is production, not deliveries. Since the FAA lifted its cap on MAX production in October 2025, Boeing has raised output from 38 to 42 aircraft a month, and it wants to stabilise at 47. Speaking at a Morgan Stanley conference on 16 September, CEO Kelly Ortberg admitted that is taking longer than planned.

The widebodies were more uneven. The 787 delivered 22 aircraft in the quarter, with only 4 South Carolina-built 787s handed over in August. The 777 line delivered 5 and the 767 line 10. Boeing needs 126 more deliveries in the fourth quarter to beat its 2025 total of 600.

The Defence Side: Tankers Lead

Boeing's defence unit delivered 33 aircraft and satellites in the quarter. The KC-46 Pegasus tanker delivered 7, taking the year's total to 15. The quarter also included 12 remanufactured and 3 new AH-64 Apaches, 3 Chinooks, 2 F-15, 2 F/A-18 and an MH-139 helicopter. No P-8 Poseidons were delivered in the quarter.

Still Behind Airbus

Airbus delivered 72 aircraft in September alone and 547 in the first nine months of the year, compared with Boeing's 475. Both manufacturers are up about 8 percent on 2025, so the gap is not closing. On orders, Airbus reported 1,174 gross orders for the year, well ahead of Boeing's 663, although Boeing had a strong September, helped by a 100-jet 737 MAX order from Turkish Airlines.

Boeing's commercial backlog grew to 6,371 aircraft at the end of September. The orders are there. The constraint, as Ortberg's comment shows, is how fast Renton can turn them into aircraft.

WIRED's visit to Boeing's Renton factory shows how the 737 assembly line works. The film dates from an earlier, lower production rate, but the moving-line principle is the same.

Sources: Boeing (third-quarter deliveries release, 13 October 2026); AeroTime; The Spokesman-Review / The Seattle Times; The Herald (Everett).