A United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 takes off from Los Angeles Airport on September 11, 2023 (AFP / Patrick T. Fallon) #
American airline United Airlines has been forced to redo its plans for the coming years due to problems faced by Boeing in its flagship model 737 MAX family.
The airline’s boss, Scott Kirby, spoke to analysts on Tuesday about the flight suspension of the 737 MAX 9 from January 6, as well as orders for the 737 MAX 10, which are still not certified by regulatory authorities.
“We are not canceling the order (of the MAX 10). We are removing it from our internal plans,” Mr. Kirby said.
The MAX 10, the largest aircraft in the 737 MAX family, made its maiden flight in June 2021. At that time, its first delivery was scheduled for 2023.
“In 2024, we have a total of 107 aircraft to be delivered, including 31 MAX models, but at this point it is unrealistic to think that all of these aircraft will be delivered as planned,” commented CFO Mike Leskinen.
United is also counting on delivery of the 277 MAX 10 and 200 more options by the end of the decade, he said.
“It’s a fantastic aircraft but we can’t rely on it,” he noted, adding that the company “needs to rework the fleet programming.”
“We are monitoring Boeing’s progress on certification,” he added, expecting fewer deliveries until at least 2025 due to supply chain issues and flight suspensions of the MAX 9 by the American Civil Aviation Regulatory Agency (FAA).
On January 5, a blocked cabin door of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 flying from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California came loose.
United has the largest fleet of this type of aircraft (79 planes), which represented about 8% of its capacity in the first quarter, Mr. Kirby said Tuesday.
Unveiling its results for the end of 2023 on Monday evening, the group announced that it expected a net loss of 35 to 85 cents per share in the first quarter of 2024, assuming a suspension until January 31.
For Mr. Kirby, the suspension is “the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
In an earlier interview on CNBC, he said he was “disappointed with the production problems at Boeing.”
“They must take real steps to achieve the highest level of quality that has historically existed in manufacturing processes,” he argued.
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