Boeing faces new pressure as United questions 737 MAX 10 order
United Airlines raised questions over the fate of billions of dollars of 737 MAX 10 jets on order from Boeing, piling pressure on the planemaker as it struggles to prevent the grounding of a smaller model further upsetting confidence.
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby on Tuesday said the airline, which says it has ordered 277 of the MAX 10 jets with options for another 200, would build a new fleet plan that does not include a model already mired in regulatory and delivery delays.
U.S. regulators have grounded most of Boeing’s MAX 9 jets for checks after a plug replacing an unused exit door tore off an Alaska Airlines jet on Jan. 5.
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Industry watchers have been looking for concrete signs that Boeing’s woes with the MAX 9 and the legacy of earlier MAX safety groundings are undermining support for the larger MAX 10, which makes up more than a fifth of outstanding MAX orders.
“I think the MAX 9 grounding is probably the straw that broke the camel’s back for us,” Kirby said in an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box on Tuesday.
The MAX 10 does not have the same kind of door-plug system as the MAX 9, but the grounding has raised concerns that the incident could delay regulatory approval and delivery of the MAX 10.
After disappointing MAX 9 sales, Boeing is betting on its newest proposal, the larger-capacity MAX 10, to dent the runaway lead of Airbus’s A321neo at the busiest end of the market.
With information from Reuters
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