Boeing sales tumble as the company gets no orders for the 737 Max for the second straight month

Boeing received orders for only four new planes in May — and for the second straight month, none for its best-selling 737 Max, as fallout continues from the blowout of a side panel on a Max during a flight in January.

The results released Tuesday compared unfavorably with Europe’s Airbus, which reported net orders for 15 planes in May — 27 sales but 12 cancellations.

Boeing also saw Aerolineas Argentinas cancel an order for a single Max jet, bringing its net sales for the month to three.

Shares of The Boeing Co. fell 3% in afternoon trading.

The dismal results followed poor figures for April, when Boeing reported seven sales — none of them for the Max.

Boeing hopes that the slow pace of orders reflects a lull in sales before next month’s Farnborough International Airshow, where aircraft deals are often announced.

But the Federal Aviation Administration is capping Boeing’s production of 737s after a door plug blew out from an Alaska Airlines Max, allegations by whistleblowers that Boeing has taken shortcuts to produce planes more quickly, and reports of falsified inspection records on some 787 Dreamliner jets.

Boeing, based in Arlington, Virginia, delivered 24 jetliners in May, including 19 Max jets. Ireland’s Ryanair got four and Alaska Airlines took three. Airbus said it delivered 53 planes last month.

Despite the slow pace of recent sales, Boeing still has a huge backlog of more than 5,600 orders.