How Much Do Airlines Really Pay For Planes? A $397 Million Boeing 787 May Cost Just $170 Million

Airplane manufactures sell their aircraft like dealerships sell cars. Growing up, my father’s family was in the car business. My dad managed a high volume Ford dealership in Southern California in the 1970s that was a money laundering operation for the mob. Its titular owner Vic Weiss picked up cash packages in Las Vegas and brought them to L.A. Weiss was skimming, and in 1979 he was found shot in the head in the trunk of his Rolls-Royce in the parking garage of the Sheraton Universal hotel. (You can read about another sketchy character my dad was involved with as well.) Car sales in the 1970s were a free for all. They used to bug the offices. The salesman would leave and come into my dad’s office, and they’d listen in to customers talking (“I wouldn’t pay X for the car, but I would pay Y.”) Once a couple thought they were alone and prayed for guidance on whether to buy the car. My dad couldn’t help himself, and got on the speaker “this is God. Buy the car.” They did. I learned a lot about negotiating from him. I learned that any time there’s agreement, there’s still probably some value that the other side was willing to give up. I could learn a lot more from Boeing sales, though. Individual cars are small stakes. Individual planes are at least tens of millions of dollars. How much airlines actually pay for planes is wrapped in mystery, and varies tremendously from airline to airline. But no one pays sticker price. A Boeing 787-10 “costs” $397 million, Except it doesn’t. British Airways parent IAG disclosed $397 million when it ordered new 787-10s. But it also explained that was a reference price comprised of the airframe’s list price, the engine list price, and optional features. And they acknowledged that Boeing made concessions so that it negotiated a “substantial discount.” When Philippine Airlines ordered 15 firm 787-10s with rights for five more, the purchase was estimated to be worth $3.4 billion net of discounts, or $170 million apiece. Aircraft Orders Are Announced Using Prices No One Believes There’s a strange ritual whenever an airline orders aircraft. The airline announces an order, the manufacturer multiplies by an inflated list price, and the media reports a multibillion-dollar value that isn’t real. I wrote nearly a decade ago that a useful rule of thumb was to cut an aircraft order’s announced value in half. Iran Air had publicly said its 80-aircraft Boeing contract, announced at $16.6 billion, was actually worth about 50% of that, which was highly unusual. Here Is What We Know About Actual Boeing 787 Pricing Even when airlines file purchase agreements with the SEC, prices are usually redacted. But there are disclosures that give a sense of order-of-magnitude real costs. Biman 787-8s in 2008: An airline official disclosed four individual negotiated prices immediately before signing: $132.83 million, $133.08 million, $133.53 million and $133.81 million. Biman was paying about 80% of the $167 million list price early on. One common feature of early purchase agreements, though, is ‘most-favored nation status’ where those early purchasers get their cost adjusted based on future discounts. That at a minimum holds for a launch customer. Prices of a new plane type generally fall. Hawaiian 787-9s in 2018: Boeing valued ten aircraft at $2.82 billion at list prices, or $282 million each. One estimate at the time was the real value of the order was $1.5 billion, or $150 million each or 53% of list at the time for that variant. Biman 787-9s in 2019: Boeing announced that two aircraft were worth $585 million at list prices. Biman reportedly received a 55% discount because the original buyer of the aircraft (Hainan Airlines) couldn’t take delivery. 45% list would have been $131.6 million per aircraft for distressed inventory. American 787-9s in 2025: Three independent appraisal firms valued three factory-new American Airlines 787-9s at between $151.2 million and $161.1 million each. That’s not a disclosure of what the airline paid. A new 787-9 is believed to run about $160 million and a new 787-10 $168 million. List on those is $292.5 million and $338.4 million, respectively. (Boeing and Airbus no longer publish current public list prices, but they’re regularly announced.) The Same Pattern Shows Up On The 737 MAX Norwegian alleged in its 2020 lawsuit over the MAX grounding that it had paid more than $1 billion for 18 737 MAX aircraft. That’s $55.6 million per plane. Boeing’s 2018 list price for a MAX 8 was $117.1 million. Its 2019 reference was $121.6 million. Norwegian says they paid roughly half. The 2025 American Airlines financing document that included 787 appraisals valued new 737 MAX 8s at around $55 – $58.5 million based on appraisals. That’s not a purchase price, but it’s consistent with Norwegian’s report. “Half Of List” Is A Useful Rule But The Range Is Wide There’s a broad range that varies with circumstances: Early 787 orders could be around 80% of a much-lower list price in effect at the time. A standard mature-program valuation can be around 50% to 55% of list. Distressed “white tail” aircraft ordered by another carrier but never delivered can fall to 45% of list or even lower. Current 787-10 market estimates are just over 40% of IAG’s reported reference. All of this also varies by aircraft type, order size and timing. An early customer may receive better pricing, while an airline that urgently needs scarce delivery slots might have less leverage. A manufacturer trying to keep a production line moving might discount more. Sticker Prices Serve The Same Function They Do In Car Dealerships “What’s it going to take to put you in this widebody today?” List prices provide a negotiating baseline, so the Boeing sales rep can say “Let me talk to my manager.” “I’m losing money on this deal.” And “If you walk out that door, I can’t guarantee this deal.” Airlines then configure the plane with options, rust-proof coating, and optional Gold Care. “What color were you thinking?” “The kids will love all that room.” “I’m not supposed to show you this, but that’s below our cost.” Confidential prices let manufacturers discriminate among customers. Boeing doesn’t want every airline knowing the lowest price it offered to win an important campaign. Airlines don’t want competitors knowing their fleet economics. And everyone likes the publicity of a “$20 billion order” nobody actually placed. Based on the best public evidence, a new Boeing 737 MAX 8 has recently carried an economic value around the mid-$50 millions. A new 787-9 is around $150 million to $160 million. A new 787-10 is around $168 million to $170 million. An individual airline’s order may be higher or lower. But roughly divide reported purchase prices in half and you’ll get a better sense of the deal than what’s actually reported. Topics on this page