By Tracy Rucinski
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Two of Boeing Co’s top commercial airline customers said Thursday that they are still committed to the 737 MAX despite delays in its return to flight and the coronavirus pandemic, although the chief of Southwest Airlines said that contracts must be “fully restored”.
Boeing has been delayed in hundreds of 737 MAX deliveries since regulators landed the plane worldwide last year after two accidents that together killed 346 people.
Since then, airline funding on aircraft orders has expired, forcing Boeing to arrange new funding while awaiting regulatory approval for design changes.
American Airlines Chief Financial Officer Derek Kerr said the airline is in “good talks” with Boeing to finalize financing terms for 17,737 MAX jets to be delivered this year, adding that the airline still wants its full order for 100 MAX aircraft, over an hour.
“We totally plan to take those planes,” Kerr said in a quarterly conference call. “Just when we take them is the discussion we are having.”
When MAX was launched in March 2019, U.S. airlines were expanding their networks and eager to add fuel-efficient MAX aircraft to their fleets. But they have been parking planes as the pandemic has slashed demand.
American and Southwest posted a quarterly loss on Thursday and American has said it will not accept delivery of any aircraft that is not funded.
Southwest said it had agreed with Boeing not to carry more than 48 planes until the end of 2021, although Boeing had projected that the plane would return to service sooner.
Southwest executives said they probably need less than those 48, and that they had not finalized any details with Boeing, giving them flexibility to continue monitoring demand for the next 18 months.
CEO Gary Kelly added: “I think the way to visualize the situation with Boeing is that basically where we are going from here needs to be negotiated, period.”
The Federal Aviation Administration is unlikely to certify the 737 MAX for the flight before October, an informed official on the matter told Reuters, and Southwest said Thursday it will take at least a couple of months after approval before flying. passenger planes.
A mid-December return to his calendar is the “best case scenario,” said Tammy Romo, Southwest CFO.
American was MAX’s launch customer, and Southwest was the world’s largest operator prior to grounding.
Separately, Spirit Airlines said it reached an agreement with Europe’s Airbus to defer aircraft deliveries during 2020 and 2021.
(Reporting by Tracy Rucinski; Dan Grebler Edition)
