Southwest moves up some Boeing Max orders, defers smallest model
Southwest delayed orders for 23 of Boeing’s 737 Max 7 aircraft, casting doubt on the future of the smallest Max variant as it adds 40 Max 8 deliveries valued at nearly $4.5b. Pushing most of its Max 7 orders out until 2023 and 2024 probably means that the carrier is trying to decide whether it wants to keep any of its pending orders for the plane, said George Ferguson, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst. It also could eventually convert the orders to another version of the Max, said George Hamlin of Hamlin Transportation Consulting. “When your most important customer, and the one you probably built the airplane for, doesn’t want it anymore, it’s a bad day,” Ferguson said in an interview. “When they defer the 7 out that far, it means they are trying to figure out if they ever want the 7.” Converting options on the 40 Max 8s to firm orders gives life to CEO Gary Kelly’s statements last month that the airline would invest benefits from the recent corporate tax rate reduction into buying more planes. Taking the additional Max 8s in 2019 and 2020 means Southwest will receive some of that model every year through 2025, based on an order schedule from the carrier, Boeing’s largest 737 customer. “We’re excited that Southwest is adding 40 more Maxs to its fleet, bringing its total Max orders to 240,” said a Boeing spokesman. The first Max 7 test airplane is being assembled, and Southwest’s changes don’t affect the program, he said.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2018-01-03/unaligned/southwest-moves-up-some-boeing-max-orders-defers-smallest-model
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Southwest moves up some Boeing Max orders, defers smallest model
Southwest delayed orders for 23 of Boeing’s 737 Max 7 aircraft, casting doubt on the future of the smallest Max variant as it adds 40 Max 8 deliveries valued at nearly $4.5b. Pushing most of its Max 7 orders out until 2023 and 2024 probably means that the carrier is trying to decide whether it wants to keep any of its pending orders for the plane, said George Ferguson, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst. It also could eventually convert the orders to another version of the Max, said George Hamlin of Hamlin Transportation Consulting. “When your most important customer, and the one you probably built the airplane for, doesn’t want it anymore, it’s a bad day,” Ferguson said in an interview. “When they defer the 7 out that far, it means they are trying to figure out if they ever want the 7.” Converting options on the 40 Max 8s to firm orders gives life to CEO Gary Kelly’s statements last month that the airline would invest benefits from the recent corporate tax rate reduction into buying more planes. Taking the additional Max 8s in 2019 and 2020 means Southwest will receive some of that model every year through 2025, based on an order schedule from the carrier, Boeing’s largest 737 customer. “We’re excited that Southwest is adding 40 more Maxs to its fleet, bringing its total Max orders to 240,” said a Boeing spokesman. The first Max 7 test airplane is being assembled, and Southwest’s changes don’t affect the program, he said.<br/>
