Boeing suffers more cancelled orders for its 737 Max plane

A Boeing 737 MAX jet taxis after landing at Boeing Field following a test flight Monday, June 29, 2020, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Boeing Co. reported more cancellations for its 737 Max jet, which this week is scheduled to carry paying passengers for the first time since the planes were grounded 21 months ago after two deadly crashes.

Boeing said orders for 88 of the planes were cancelled in November, pushing the total to 536 for the year.

The company reported 27 orders for the plane, although 25 were a new order by Virgin Australia that replaced an earlier, larger order for 48 Max jets. The November figures don't include Irish carrier Ryanair's announcement last week that it will order 75 more Max jets.

Boeing said it delivered seven commercial jets during November, mostly cargo planes to UPS, FedEx, DHL and others.

Shares of Chicago-based Boeing were down 1% in late-morning trading. They closed Monday down 27% for the year to date, but they have been rising since early November on expectation that the Federal Aviation Administration would let the Max fly again. The FAA issued an ungrounding order on Nov. 18 that laid out required steps for airlines to resume using the plane, which was grounded in March 2019 after two crashes that killed 346 people.

Later this week, Brazilian airline Gol plans to operate the first flight on a Max with paying passengers since the grounding. American Airlines plans the first U.S. flight on Dec. 29.

On Monday, UBS raised its rating on the shares to “Buy,” saying that the availability of a vaccine for COVID-19 will help air travel - and demand for airliners - grow faster than expected.