Aircraft orders are commitments scheduled years ahead, while deliveries depend on complex production and supplier networks. This story follows annual net orders, completed output and year-end backlogs to show why queues can stay large. Industry research and company reports identify workforce, material, engine, quality and production constraints; these provide context for the pattern, not a single explanation for every delayed aircraft (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2024; Airbus SE, 2026b; The Boeing Company, 2025a). Hover for figures and definitions; click legends to isolate series where available. Backlog panels use different vertical scales.

1. New orders refill the queue at very different rates

charts$orders

2. Deliveries show the distance between order intake and output

charts$deliveries

3. The queue is a stock; deliveries are the annual flow

charts$backlog_delivery

4. Single-aisle aircraft dominate output—and define Embraer’s range

charts$mix

Aircraft grouping: Airbus A220 and A320 Family and Boeing source categories labelled 737 or BBJ are treated as single-aisle. Embraer’s commercial E-Jets are also single-aisle; Embraer executive and defense deliveries are excluded. Embraer’s commercial jet segment focuses on aircraft up to 150 seats (Embraer S.A., 2026).

Acknowledgement

I used GenAI (OpenAI) to assist with spelling and grammar review, suggestions for refining my own writing, finding possible sources (reference research) and to debug R code. I checked its suggestions and verified any information or references I used. The ideas, analysis and final work are my own.

References

Airbus SE. (2024, February 15). Airbus reports full-year FY 2023 results. https://www.airbus.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-02-airbus-reports-full-year-fy-2023-results

Airbus SE. (2026a). Airbus annual review 2025. https://www.airbus.com/sites/g/files/jlcbta136/files/2026-04/airbus_annual_review.pdf

Airbus SE. (2026b, February 19). Airbus reports full-year FY 2025 results. https://www.airbus.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2026-02-airbus-reports-full-year-fy-2025-results

Airbus SE. (2026c). Orders and deliveries: September 2026 [Data set]. Retrieved October 26, 2026, from https://mediaassets.airbus.com/pm_38_939_939975-odikj5baje.xlsx?fileName=orders-and-deliveries-september-2026.xlsx

Embraer S.A. (2020). Annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2019. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1355444/000119312520157452/d941123d20f.htm

Embraer S.A. (2022). Annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2021. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1355444/000119312522091513/d82032d20f.htm

Embraer S.A. (2024). Annual report 2024. https://embraer.com/media/tkcnfswb/annual_report_2024_eng.pdf

Embraer S.A. (2026). Annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2025. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1355444/000162828026021824/erj-20251231.htm

The Boeing Company. (n.d.). Commercial airplanes orders and deliveries [Data set]. Tableau Public. Retrieved October 26, 2026, from https://public.tableau.com/views/BoeingCommercialOrdersDeliveries_16788064876590/OrdersandDeliveries.csv?:showVizHome=no

The Boeing Company. (2023, January 10). Boeing reports commercial orders and deliveries for 2022. https://investors.boeing.com/investors/news/press-release-details/2023/Boeing-Reports-Commercial-Orders-and-Deliveries-for-2022/default.aspx

The Boeing Company. (2025a). Annual report 2024. https://www.boeing.com/content/dam/boeing/boeingdotcom/company/annual-report/2024/2024-annual-report.pdf

The Boeing Company. (2026, January 27). Boeing reports fourth quarter results. https://investors.boeing.com/investors/news/press-release-details/2026/Boeing-Reports-Fourth-Quarter-Results/default.aspx

U.S. Government Accountability Office. (2024). Commercial aviation manufacturing: Supply chain challenges and actions to address them (GAO-24-106493). https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-24-106493