SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- U.S. aerospace giant Boeing Company said Tuesday it delivered only five 737 aircraft in the third quarter 2019, 19 jets fewer than the figure reported in the previous quarter, due to an lingering impact of the global grounding of 737 MAX planes.
The third-quarter delivery of its best-selling 737 aircraft also saw a big drop from the first quarter of 2019, while the company delivered 173 737 jets to commercial customers in the fourth quarter of last year.
The sales of Boeing's 737 single-aisle jets have suffered mass losses after two of its MAX models crashed in Indonesia last year and in Ethiopia in March 2019, respectively, killing 346 people on board.
The two fatal incidents led to global grounding of MAX aircraft in mid-March as a result of widespread concern about the airplane's safety and intense scrutiny from aviation and federal regulators.
Boeing said it is still working with federal regulators to get approval to resume the service of 737 jets as soon as possible.
Boeing is continuing to produce the 737 planes at its Renton plant in Washington state, but at a lower rate, and to store them in anticipation of an eventual end of the flying ban on the 737 models.
Boeing delivered a total of 63 commercial aircraft in the third quarter of 2019, nose-diving by two-thirds from the figure of 193 a year ago.
The company's entire delivery of 302 jets by its commercial division in the first nine months of this year dropped by 47 percent from the corresponding period of 2018, when 568 aircraft were delivered to its customers.
