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By Scott Hamilton and Bjorn Fehrm
June 11, 2026, © Leeham News: When Boeing entered crisis mode with the March 13, 2019, grounding of the 737 MAX, the company jumped from one crisis to another. The COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 dried up demand for widebody airplanes, grinding 787 deliveries to a virtual halt. Then, all deliveries were suspended for 20 months from October 2020, when a production flaw was discovered.
Just when things appeared to be looking up at long last, the door plug blew off a 10-week-old 737-9 MAX. The cause was traced to sloppy assembly at Boeing and Spirit Aerosystems. Boeing slid into another crisis.
At long last, things began to look up for Boeing in 2025 and continue their ascent this year.
Its archrival, Airbus, didn’t have a crisis to deal with—just a balky supply chain that has disrupted plans to ramp up production of the A220, A320neo, A330neo, and A350 lines. In other words, every commercial line.
Supply chain problems, mostly with engines and interiors but also with others, make it difficult for Airbus to meet its delivery goals.
Overall, Airbus is in far better shape than Boeing. Nevertheless, there are some challenges that may not be immediately apparent.
As we finish our series on Airbus next new aircraft a, we have made a full SWOT (SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) that can highlight how the future will treat Airbus. .
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