In a disappointing turn of events for Boeing, the company received orders for only four new planes in May, failing to secure any orders for its best-selling 737 Max for the second consecutive month. This comes as the repercussions continue from a side panel blowout incident on a Max during a flight in January.

The May results, released on Tuesday, paled in comparison to European competitor Airbus, which reported net orders for 15 planes during the same period, although it also saw 12 cancellations. Furthermore, Boeing suffered the cancellation of an order for a single Max jet from Aerolineas Argentinas, bringing its net sales for the month down to just three.

As a result of this disappointing news, shares of The Boeing Co. dropped 3% in afternoon trading. This follows April's lackluster figures, where Boeing only managed to secure seven sales without any for the Max.

Boeing remains hopeful that the sluggish pace of orders is merely a lull before next month's Farnborough International Airshow, which traditionally sees major aircraft deals being announced. However, the company is currently facing challenges including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) imposing production restrictions on 737s due to safety concerns, whistleblowers alleging shortcuts in production processes to meet delivery deadlines, and reports of falsified inspection records on some 787 Dreamliner jets.

During May, Boeing delivered a total of 24 jetliners, with 19 of them being Max jets. Among the buyers were Ryanair, which acquired four jets, and Alaska Airlines, which took delivery of three. In comparison, Airbus delivered a total of 53 planes during the same period.

Despite these recent setbacks, Boeing still retains a massive backlog of more than 5,600 orders, allowing the company to maintain optimism for the future.