Air Lease boss stands by plan to keep Max orders and ‘not panic’

Boeing’s 737 Max is “going to have a role” in meeting airlines’ future narrowbody needs, and lessors “can be very helpful” in ensuring the airframer is able to place the aircraft once it is cleared to fly again, Air Lease CE John Plueger has predicted. Plueger stood by Air Lease’s decision not to ditch its Max orders. While the lessor “cancelled a few here and there”, he says it “didn’t panic” because it believed that “the world does need the 737 Max”. “Airbus simply doesn’t have enough manufacturing capacity to meet all the single-aisle needs,” asserts Plueger, adding that the Max “is going to have a role” and will be “the most tested aircraft” ever when it takes to the skies again. The Air Lease chief notes that Boeing is “under a corporate mandate to get rid of these aircraft”, and says lessors “can be very helpful with the placement” of the Max. Air Lease will play “a vital role” in helping Boeing find homes for the aircraft, he suggests, and “we’re going to get a great deal doing it”. He expects that it will take “a year, a year-and-a-half, maybe two years” for the US airframer to place the Max aircraft in its backlog. Cirium fleets data shows that Air Lease has 126 Max jets on order and manages 15 in storage: five placed with LOT Polish Airlines, four with Oman Air, two each with Cayman Airways and Sunwing Airlines, and one each with S7 Airlines and Smartwings.<br/>