Malaysia Airlines suspends taking delivery of Boeing 737 MAX jets due to grounding

Malaysia Airlines said Wednesday it has suspended taking delivery of 25 Boeing 737 MAX jets, citing the plane’s delayed return to service since it was grounded last year following two fatal crashes. The decision represents another setback for Boeing, which on Tuesday reported its worst annual net orders in decades, along with its lowest number of plane deliveries in 11 years, as the grounding of the 737 MAX saw it fall far behind main competitor Airbus. “In view of the production stoppage and the delayed return to service of the 737-MAX, Malaysia Airlines has suspended the delivery of its orders,” the airline said. The carrier had been due to take delivery of its first 737 MAX in July 2020 but last year its CE said the introduction to service could slide beyond that. Malaysia Airlines did not respond immediately to a request for comment on how many of the 25 planes it has on order were due to be delivered this year. Analysts said cash-strapped carriers like Malaysian Airlines that over-ordered planes could take advantage of the 737 MAX grounding to negotiate with Boeing to restructure their orders.<br/>