Boeing gets 50 orders for 737 Max
Boeing Co. secured orders for 50 737 Max narrowbody planes, padding its tally at the Dubai Airshow while building momentum for the grounded aircraft ahead of its potential return to the skies in coming weeks.
Kazakhstan’s Air Astana signed a letter of intent for 30 jets, Boeing said Tuesday, while an undisclosed customer bought 20, according to a person familiar with the matter. The orders come after SunExpress of Turkey purchased 10 planes, giving a total value of about $7.5 billion at list prices.
“This was a tendered competition we fought hard for and won,” Stan Deal, the new head of Boeing ’s jetliner business, said of the Air Astana order.
The sale will be especially welcome because the Central Asian carrier is an established customer for Airbus’ rival A320neo.
Business for the Max has been sparse since it was idled in March after two deadly crashes in five months. The A320neo, meanwhile, won a $14-billion, 120-plane order from Air Arabia at the Dubai show Monday, followed by a $1.3-billion acquisition of 12 Neos by British discount airline EasyJet.
Indian low-cost carrier SpiceJet said on Monday that it was discussing an order for an undisclosed number of Max jets.
But the trickle of orders can’t disguise the crisis surrounding the plane.
That was recently laid bare in data showing the A320 overtook the 737 by total orders for the first time in October, with 15,193 during the Airbus model’s lifetime versus 15,136 for its rival. The Boeing jet was more than 400 orders ahead at the end of last year. The 737, in service for longer, remains No. 1 by deliveries, with about 10,500 shipped compared with more than 9,000 A320s.
Boeing is working with regulators to certify a fix to flight-automation software that was involved in both fatal disasters and has said it’s aiming for Federal Aviation Administration approval to return the Max to the skies by the end of this year.
Meanwhile, customers for the Max are generally hedging their bets by declining to commit to firm orders.