Saudia Arabia’s new airline just announced a major Airbus order in the latest blow for Boeing

Boeing’s 737 Max production has been limited since January’s incident, with its total commercial jet backlog at 5,400.

The Airbus backlog is even larger at around 8,000, mostly made up of jets from the A320 family. The planemaker and Riyadh Air did not provide an expected delivery date for the 60 A321neos.

Riyadh Air CEO Tony Douglas told Reuters in May that the narrowbody order had been delayed because he was concerned about negative media coverage that arose soon after November’s Dubai Air Show.

“The last thing I want to do is present my good news and have it in a context of things that are going on elsewhere, which are not quite as positive,” he said. “Be it Airbus can’t deliver on time [or] Boeing is having some technical problem.”

Wednesday’s order is a further boost for Boeing’s biggest rival and comes just hours before Airbus releases its third-quarter earnings.

Boeing recorded a loss of $6.1 billion in the last quarter, and is contending with a union strike now in its sixth week, planned layoffs, and further delays to its much-anticipated 777X jet.