On Tuesday, Boeing announced orders for 78 Dreamliners, split between state-owned Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) and new national airline Riyadh Air. The $37 billion sale, which Boeing called its fifth-largest commercial order by value, followed a deal with United Airlines (UAL.O) in December for 100 Dreamliners and a purchase by Air India that included 20 787s. Planemakers are also grappling with the after-effects of the pandemic, which forced waves of layoffs and retirements of skilled workers. While Airbus outsold Boeing in the Air India deal, landing orders for 40 A350 widebodys, the U.S. planemaker swept both the United Airlines and Saudi orders. “Saudi Airlines is a government-owned airline, and so there are politics involved with this,” analyst Stallard said.

---