Boeing must turn its fortunes around this year to avoid falling further behind Airbus, which plans a production increase as it fixes its supply chain.

Boeing's 2024 deliveries fell by about a third from a year earlier to 348 airplanes. The company's delivery gap with rival Airbus widened as the European plane maker handed over 766 jetliners. Boeing struggled to ramp up production and deliveries due to a midair door plug blowout in January 2024 and then a machinist strike in the fall.

Deliveries of new Boeing jets bounced back in December after a crippling labor strike that slowed production last fall, but the company's annual deliveries dropped in 2024 to the lowest level since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Boeing's commercial aircraft order and delivery figures tumbled last year as the US company worked through a manufacturing crisis.

Boeing commercial jet deliveries dropped last year by more than a third compared to 2023, as the aerospace giant wrestled with multiple major challenges. In data released Tuesday, Boeing (NYSE: BA) reported it delivered 348 airplanes to customers in 2024, down from 528 the year prior.

Airbus delivered 766 jets in 2024 and looked certain to maintain leadership of the jetmaking industry for a sixth year as arch-rival Boeing recovers cautiously from a prolonged internal crisis, company data showed on Thursday.