Losses at Boeing’s commercial aircraft division almost doubled in the first three months of the year as a safety crisis led to a slowdown in deliveries. The US manufacturing giant handed over 83 planes to customers in the opening quarter, down from 130 a year earlier. This drop-off led to the unit’s operating losses jumping to $1.1bn (£880m) from $615m last year, as revenues fell 31pc to $4.65bn. Across the group, operating cash outflow increased 10-fold to $3.4bn, indicating the strain Boeing is under following the January blowout of a door plug on an Alaska Airlines 737 Max plane. In a message to staff, chief executive Dave Calhoun, who will leave this year after taking responsibility for the crisis, said the company was in a “tough moment”. However, he said that production delays are beginning to produce more predictable and stable assembly times for the 737 Max, deliveries of which have fallen below 38 a month. That build rate is likely to be maintained through the first half at least, falling way short of the 50-plus monthly rate Boeing must achieve to hit a $10bn cash flow target by 2025-26. Around 40 737s still require work to correct problems found...