NEW YORK — Boeing delivered nine 737 MAX jets to Chinese carriers in August, the most since December 2018 prior to a lengthy grounding following two fatal crashes, according to figures released on Tuesday. China was the final major government to clear the MAX to resume service after a grounding of more than a year-and-a-half when the plane was taken out of service in the aftermath of crashes in 2018 and 2019 that claimed 346 lives. Boeing began resuming deliveries to China in January 2024. Boeing notched 32 MAX deliveries in all in August, bringing total plane deliveries across its portfolio to 40 for the month, a bit higher than the 35 in the year-ago period. Irish low-cost airline Ryanair received the most MAX planes with six. The company's chief executive officer, Michael O'Leary, griped in late August that delayed deliveries from Boeing had cost the company millions of ticket sales. Others to receive MAX planes included Southwest Airlines, United Airlines and Xiamen Airlines. Through the first eight months of 2024, Boeing has delivered 258 jets, including 198 MAX planes. In the same period of 2023, Boeing delivered 344 planes, 265 of which were MAX jets. Boeing has slowed plane production in 2024 following the blowout of a plane panel on an Alaska Airlines flight in January that necessitated an emergency landing.