Boeing Handed Over 35 787-9 Dreamliners In H1 2026 Compared To Airbus' 20 A350-900s

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A350 are contemporaries, even if their designs and market positions are very different. Both planes are the manufacturers' newest widebody designs, optimized for ultra-long-haul flights in their most capable variants while still being efficient for shorter missions, and the variants of these families (three for the 787, two passenger models for the A350) do overlap in size.

They are also by far the best-selling widebody models in each other's lineups. With the industry still affected by supply chain shortages, delivery times and availability have become quite important.

In this comparison, Boeing, the manufacturer that experienced multiple production challenges with the 787 earlier in the decade, has been making a turnaround and is delivering 787s at a fairly steady rate, much to the satisfaction of its customers. Airbus, however, is the manufacturer that has been more reliable in recent years, and yet it's having more difficulty delivering A350s this year.

Widebody Deliveries In 2026

Airbus and Boeing delivered a combined 649 commercial aircraft in the first half of 2026, including freighters. This was the highest figure for the two since the industry's record set in 2018 of 681 aircraft, although Airbus's record was set in 2019 (the year's combined total was lower due to the 737 MAX grounding).

Airbus held the lead overall for the first half of 2026, but this was solely due to its higher narrowbody production rates. In the twin-aisle market, it's Boeing that holds the advantage. The manufacturer delivered 40 787s, including 35 787-9s and five 787-10s, along with 16 767-300Fs and 15 777Fs. This totals 71 widebodies, but only 40 passenger widebodies.

Meanwhile, Airbus delivered 26 A350s during this same period, split between 20 A350-900s and six A350-1000s, along with nine A330-900s and no A330-800s. Together, you get 35 Airbus widebodies for the first six months of the year, or just slightly less than half the number of widebodies that Boeing has delivered.

The main reason for this gap is that Boeing is actively delivering two freighter models, whereas Airbus is not delivering freighters. However, the latter is still behind Boeing in the passenger market, which is especially notable considering that Boeing is delivering just one twin-aisle aircraft type (787) compared to Airbus's two (A330 and A350). Boeing delivered more 787-9s than Airbus delivered A350-900s and A330-900s combined, while also producing fewer aircraft variants as well.

Issues With The A350's Production

Currently, Boeing is holding steady at a production rate of roughly eight aircraft per month for the 787 and hopes to ramp up to ten per month in late 2026/early 2027. Airbus, on the other hand, hoped to ramp up to ten A350s per month in 2026, but it has consistently failed to meet its goals. In actuality, it's delivering between four and six A350s per month.

This represents a significant difference from what its rival has been accomplishing and from what the manufacturer hoped to achieve. The entire industry is suffering from supply chain shortages, and interior components have also been notoriously delayed for multiple widebody customers. For the A350 specifically, Airbus has struggled with a facility in Kinston, North Carolina, producing fuselage and wing components.

This plant was formerly operated by Spirit AeroSystems, and there have been staffing issues as the facility has transitioned to Airbus's control. Many employees left to work for Boeing instead, and staffing has not yet recovered. The facility lost a higher number of employees than expected, and hiring has been slow. The effect of the excessively thin workforce has heightened the difficulty of the handover.

As such, it's become a significant bottleneck for A350 production. While Airbus is working on minimizing delays, it's yet to fully address the staffing issues in Kinston, and A350 delays are not guaranteed to be a short-term problem. Elsewhere, Airbus has also experienced slowdowns related to the main cargo door for the A350F, although this variant is not being delivered yet.

Problems Building The A330

Although the A350 is the more prominent aircraft today due to its market success, the situation with the A330's production in 2026 is more unusual. Airbus didn't deliver any A330s in January or February, while it delivered between three and four aircraft per month in March, April, and May. In total, ten aircraft were delivered during this time span: nine A330-900s and one A330 MRTT.

The latter is a military derivative that is based on the older A330-200 while being built on the same line as the A330-900. At the start of the summer, Airbus discovered a quality issue in which a stray tool was found inside an A330's tailplane during pre-delivery inspections. Production of the aircraft did not stop fully, but A330s were subjected to additional quality checks while the manufacturer investigated to determine if this was an isolated incident.

As a result, Airbus didn't deliver any A330s in June or July, while it only delivered a single A330-900 to STARLUX Airlines in August. In addition, in-service A330s delivered in a particular batch were inspected. Airbus identified the root cause of the issue and restarted monthly handovers in September.

While production hasn't faced any noteworthy slowdowns since, the manufacturer has asked customers to inspect their aircraft for any potential abnormalities with the tailplane. Ultimately, these events proved to be a significant challenge for the program, especially as Boeing has been delivering a fairly high rate of 787s relatively reliably in 2026, while it also came at a bad time for Airbus given the problems with the A350's production.

Production Rates & Market Outlook

When you compare the current intended production rates for Airbus's and Boeing's twin-aisle programs, the former should be delivering more passenger widebodies. However, Airbus is in a unique position today, as both of its programs have been affected by production issues resulting in significant cuts to delivery rates. Today, the A330 and A350 combined should be outdelivering the 787.

However, Airbus isn't able to deliver the planes at the rates that were promised. While the A330 program's challenges may have passed, the A350 is in a trickier spot currently. Boeing's intention for the 787 is to increase the monthly production to ten in the near term, and then to grow production to 16 aircraft per month by the end of the decade. Meanwhile, the A350 is set to go up to a rate of 12 aircraft per month by 2028.

This means that the A350 will outdeliver the 787 in the near term (provided that Airbus can meet its goals), while the 787 will overtake its contemporary in the distant future. Meanwhile, the A330 is set to go up from four per month to five per month in 2029. Together, the Airbus widebodies should be nearly at parity with the 787 or slightly outdelivering the Dreamliner, but the wrinkle is the Boeing 777X.

It's projected that the aircraft will finally enter service in 2027, and although the 777X's starting production rate will be quite limited, it will nonetheless give Boeing the edge in production volume. The 777X's certification status has contributed to equalizing the twin-aisle production rates by the two companies, and this will change once the 777X is in service.

How The Two Companies Stand In The Market

Airbus and Boeing both sell a high-volume, relatively new widebody product in the form of the A350 and 787. The A350-900, the best-selling variant of the A350, slots in between the 787-9 and 787-10, while the A350-1000 is much larger and more capable than any 787 variant.

When looked at individually, as a smaller airline might, the two aren't always in direct competition with one another, as they offer fairly different strengths, but both families hit the heart of the market and continue to be hugely popular. Airbus and Boeing also sell refreshed versions of older widebodies in the form of the A330neo and 777X.

However, unlike the A350 and 787 (which do overlap), these two products are positioned very differently. The 777X (which really consists of just the 777-9 in the passenger market) is the largest and most expensive airliner on sale, while the A330neo is similar in size to the 787-9 but offers less capability for a lower price point. Both have sold relatively slowly. The 787-9 is ultimately sized almost perfectly for what most operators desire.

Furthermore, it's efficient enough for shorter routes while also being capable of ultra-long-haul services. As amazingly capable as the A350-900 is, operators do pay a slight premium in operating costs for its larger size and higher payload capacity. Meanwhile, the A330-900neo and 777-9 both occupy much smaller niches, and the same is also true of the 787-10 and A350-1000 to a lesser extent. Meanwhile, customers aren't buying the 787-8 anymore or the A330-800neo.