Boeing Qatar Airways announced on Wednesday that Middle East Airlines can buy up to 210 aircraft, the largest deal for wide-body aircraft orders ever by U.S. strategy manufacturers.
The order is Qatar Airways' largest in history, including 130 of Boeing's 787 Dreamliners and 30 of 30 highly deferred 777-9S, as well as options for up to 50 aircraft, the company said in a press release.
Qatar Airways also GE Aerospace The companies said in another joint release that for more than 400 engines to power the Boeing.
According to a press release, purchasing a wide-body aircraft engine is the largest in GE Aerospace history.
Boeing and Qatar Airways attacked the deal during President Donald Trump's state visit to Qatar Emir, as part of the president's four-day Middle East tour.
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg appeared with Trump at Amiri Diwan in Doha for a signing ceremony.
"This is the critical next step for Qatar Airways on our roads as we invest in the cleanest, youngest and most effective fleets of airlines in the world," Qatar Airways CEO Badr Mohammed Al-Meer said in a statement. "It's like this, we can meet the strong demand of airlines because we connect passengers to the world better than anyone else."
Boeing Commercial Aircraft CEO Stephanie Pope said the "record order" with Katar Airways solidifies their future fleet, our central market-leading wide-body aircraft family. ”
The 426-seat twin-engine 777-9 is part of the Boeing 777X series, which has not yet produced any delivery and has not yet been certified by the Federal Aviation Administration.
The White House earlier Wednesday valued the plane deal at $96 billion and said it would have 154,000 U.S. jobs a year, totaling more than one million domestic jobs.
But Boeing and Qatar Airways say the deal will bring about 400,000 jobs in the U.S.
Boeing's website says it currently has about 170,000 employees worldwide.
"This is the largest jet order in Boeing's history," Trump said after Amiri Diwan signed the deal.
The deal may be a boon for Boeing and has been profitable since 2018.
Last year, aircraft manufacturers have been plagued by major safety issues, manufacturing defects, cost overruns and nearly two months of mechanical strikes.
Trump's trade war also undermined his business deals. Alterberg said last month that China no longer accepts Boeing aircraft to airlines to deal with U.S. tariffs.
Alterberg said in a first-quarter earnings call for Boeing that the company has recently narrowed its losses as it settled a backlog worth more than $500 billion.
"This is good news for South Carolina and Boeing," said Senator Lindsey Graham.
The new aircraft will be assembled at Boeing’s Charleston plant, Graham’s office said.
According to its website, the deal announced on Wednesday will almost double the fleet of 233 aircraft of Qatar Airways.
It could also be a possible review of Trump's acceptance and defense of the proposal to Qatar, giving away the luxury of the US 747 jet that will serve as the new Air Force One.
Democrats bombed the move in a corrupt and unconstitutional way, and some of Trump’s Republican allies in the administration and media expressed uneasiness.
- Michele Luhn of CNBC contributed to the report.