Delta expects deliveries to be delayed until 2027

Delta Air Lines Inc. anticipates that the deliveries of the Boeing 737 Max 10 aircraft to the airline could be delayed until as late as 2027, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday, citing an interview with the company CEO Ed Bastian.

Boeing has faced increased scrutiny following a Jan. 5 incident in which a door plug blew off a 737 Max 9 plane mid-flight, sparking fresh concerns about the certification of the already delayed MAX 10 model.

The 737-10, Boeing’s largest Max plane with a maximum seating capacity of 230 passengers, is pending certification by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.

“We were already anticipating if it came in ‘25, it’d be late in the year,” Bastian told Bloomberg in an interview Sunday. “My guess is it will be another year or two beyond that.”

Delta currently doesn’t fly any of the MAX variants. The MAX 10 serves as Boeing’s response to Airbus’ highly successful A321 neo and constitutes more than a fifth of the outstanding MAX orders.

Delta is “comfortable” with protections it negotiated against possible delays in its contract to buy the Max 10, Bastian said, declining to be more specific, according to the report.

There are “several issues with the Boeing 737 Max “that need to be addressed,” and the carrier is in ongoing discussions with Boeing, Bastion told Bloomberg.

The airline announced in July 2022 that it would buy 100 Boeing 737 Max 10 jets worth about US$13.5 billion at list prices and has options to buy another 30 and was looking to begin receiving the planes in 2025.