Boeing nabs freighter-only orders in May

[caption id="attachment_412068" align="alignright" width="460"] UPS has shuffled its order backlog and taken on unit 63784, the 747-8F that was previously destined to join AirBridgeCargo. (Photo: UPS)[/caption] Boeing secured firm orders for only nine aircraft in May, all relating to freighters, according to the planemaker’s orders and deliveries tally for the month. With the update, Boeing confirmed suspicions that UPS is the customer for a hotly contested 747-8F (63784) originally ordered by the Volga-Dnepr Group . FedEx also upped its official 767-300F backlog by one unit. The identity of a customer purchasing two 777Fs previously destined for Volga-Dnepr remains a mystery, as does the source of a new order for five 767-300Fs [FATs 005452-5457]. Interest in freighters is fitting for a month during which commercial flights were down 70.8% year over year as COVID-19 wreaked havoc on demand for passenger aviation. Freighters also dominated deliveries; of the four aircraft handed over to customers in May, three were freighters. The nine orders consist of: 1. One 747-8F from UPS on May 4. UPS’ total orders still stand at twenty-eight and Boeing shows one cancellation. UPS has only shuffled its order and taken on an earlier aircraft (63784) that was the 747-8F involved in the dispute between Russia-based Volga-Dnepr and Boeing. The planemaker was given the green light by the court to sell unit 63784, which was previously in AirBridgeCargo ’s livery but was ferried from Everett (PAE) to Portland (PDX) on June 8 to be painted into its new colors. Although Boeing’s spat with Volga-Dnepr has yet to be fully resolved, Boeing has now reduced the Russian group’s unfilled 747-8Fs orders by one unit to three. 2. One 767-300F from FedEx on May 1. Although this represents an addition to Boeing’s order book, FedEx already accounted for it in its Q3 Stat Book . Definitions regarding what constitutes a “firm order” vary between Boeing and its customers, and what counts as an order for FedEx sometimes requires additional commercial criteria to be met before making it onto Boeing’s order book. As of Feb. 29, FedEx was committed to purchasing forty-eight 767Fs, according to the Stat Book. Since then, Boeing has delivered three of those aircraft, leaving its backlog in alignment with FedEx’s count at forty-five units. 3. Five 767-300Fs from an unidentified customer on May 29. Of the nine existing customers for the factory-built 767-300F, only four have ordered more than five aircraft: DHL , FedEx Express, LATAM and UPS. LATAM recently told Cargo Facts it has no plans to adjust its freighter fleet. Additional orders from integrators, however, would not come as a surprise. While DHL has purchased factory-built 767Fs in the past, recent medium-widebody orders have favored freighter-converted 767Fs and A330-300Fs. FedEx too could decide to take additional 767-300Fs, but a truncated order with one unit identified and the rest unaccounted for seems unlikely. Among integrators, UPS is the most plausible source of the five-unit order. UPS operates sixty-six production 767Fs and is committed to at least six more. Last year, UPS dry-leased five freighter-converted 767Fs from ATSG-affiliate Cargo Aircraft Management , which sources interpreted as a sign Boeing could not deliver new freighters fast enough. The company reportedly approached Boeing in 2017 to up its commitments for 767Fs , and was met with resistance. Recent orders and a production-rate increase toward the end of last year are indicative of Boeing’s willingness to continue offering the 767-300F. 4. Two 777Fs from an unidentified customer on May 29. These two aircraft, along with a third 777F, were also at the center of the Volga-Boeing case. The court decided Boeing could proceed with remarketing two for which it had already sent a purchase agreement to another customer. The number of 777Fs Volga-Dnepr now has on order has decreased from nine units to seven. The purchase agreement between Boeing and the customer also includes a “consenting party,” whose name was also redacted. While this usually suggests an order from a Chinese airline, in this case the consenting party could also be Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE), given the original arrangement between Volga-Dnepr and DAE’s leasing division, DAE Capital , for a sale-leaseback deal with three 777Fs . As for who the customer behind this order could be, one of the credit memoranda Boeing issues recognizes the airline as a 777 and 787 customer in what appears to be a single redacted year. The same memorandum also links this order to “definitive agreements” to purchase 777-9s and additional 787s. The following carriers that ordered both 777s and 787s in the same year and are not existing 777-9 customers are those Cargo Facts thinks likely to take on 777Fs: Saudia , which ordered twelve 777-300ERs and eight 787-9s in 2010; EVA Air , which ordered five 777Fs, two 777-300ERs and eighteen 787-10s in 2015; and Turkish Airlines , which ordered three 777Fs and twenty-five 787s in 2018. Although the unidentified 767F and 777F orders were logged on the same date, they are not necessarily linked. If they are, ANA could be the customer behind them. The Japanese combination carrier operates five 767-300BCFs alongside four 767-300Fs and two 777Fs. With the oldest 767-300BCF just over 28 years old, renewal of this segment of the fleet would not seem outlandish. However, ANA is already a 777-9 customer, having ordered twenty 777Xs in 2014 along with six 777-300ERs and fourteen 787-9s. In any case, the identity of the 777F customer will soon be revealed when the first frame (66623), which has already completed final assembly at PAE, emerges from the paint shop.

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