Boeing strikes ‘largest-ever’ 787 jet deal with Qatar Airways, White House says
U.S. President Donald Trump, Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg attend a signing ceremony in Doha, Qatar, May 14, 2025.
Brian Snyder | Reuters
Boeing and GE Aerospace secured a $96 billion agreement to sell Qatar Airways up to 210 aircraft, the White House said Wednesday.
The deal for the 787 Dreamliner and 777X aircraft powered by GE engines is Boeing’s “largest-ever widebody order and largest-ever 787 order,” according to the White House.
The companies struck the agreement during President Donald Trump‘s state visit with the emir of Qatar.
The White House said in a fact sheet that the deal will support 154,000 U.S. jobs annually and more than 1 million total domestic jobs over the course of production and delivery of the planes.
Further details were unclear. Boeing did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.
Boeing has yet to deliver any 777X planes. The 426-seat jetliner is years behind schedule and has still not been certified by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg appeared alongside Trump at the Amiri Diwan in Doha earlier Wednesday for a signing ceremony on the aircraft deal.
“It’s the largest order of jets in the history of Boeing,” Trump said after Ortberg signed the agreement.
The deal could be a boon for Boeing, which has not posted a profit since 2018.
The planemaker has been beset by major safety concerns, manufacturing defects, cost overruns and a nearly two-month-long machinist strike last year.
Its business dealings have also been disrupted by Trump’s trade war: China stopped accepting deliveries of Boeing planes to its airlines in response to U.S. tariffs, Ortberg said last month.
But the company has recently narrowed its losses as it addresses a backlog worth more $500 billion, Ortberg said in Boeing’s first-quarter earnings call.
The deal announced Wednesday would nearly double Qatar Airways’ fleet of 233 aircraft, according to its website.
It could also draw more scrutiny toward Trump’s acceptance, and defense, of Qatar’s offer to gift the U.S. a luxury 747 jet that will act as the new Air Force One.
Democrats have blasted the move as corrupt and unconstitutional, and some of Trump’s Republican allies in government and media have also expressed unease.
— CNBC’s Michele Luhn contributed to this report.
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