Boeing delivers first 737 Max to Lion Group

Boeing delivered the first 737 Max to the jetliner’s largest customer, Lion Mentari Airlines, a step toward reaping a cash bounty from the best-selling aircraft in company history. The Tuesday hand-off in Seattle to Lion’s Malaysia affiliate, Malindo Airways, was only one day later than first scheduled after the US planemaker quickly recovered from a possible engine manufacturing defect, which had grounded the fledgling Max fleet last week. Before that hiccup, the upgraded 737 had coasted through development and flight-testing months ahead of schedule -- a rarity in an industry where delays are common. The 737 and Airbus SE’s A320 family are the sturdy workhorses for budget carriers worldwide, built to withstand multiple short flights a day. And thanks to manufacturing scale and processes honed over decades, they are the biggest profit generators for the planemakers, one reason why investors have closely watched the progress of the latest Boeing single-aisle jet so closely. The Max “is the most important program at Boeing both now and in the future,” said George Ferguson, senior air transport analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence. “It is the cash generator and they can’t screw it up.”<br/>