Malaysia Airlines Halts Deliveries of Boeing 737 MAX Aircraft

Photo: Boeing

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Malaysia Airlines has announced that it halts deliveries of 25 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft amid uncertainty over delay of the MAX return to service since grounding in March, 2019.

According to the initial plan, the first 737 MAX was due to join airline’s fleet in July, 2020. Therefore, now it is unclear when the airline plans to resume the deliveries.

Boeing has confirmed the changes. “We are sorry for the disruption this situation has caused Malaysia Airlines. We are working to support them and all of our customers in every way possible to ensure complete confidence in the 737 MAX and a safe return to commercial flight”, the US planemaker said in a statement.

The announcement came as a fresh blow to Boeing, which has just announced extremely bad results in terms of orders & deliveries through 2019.

Malaysia Airlines placed an order for 25 Boeing 737 MAX planes in 2016. The initial agreement included a firm order for 25 MAX 8 and purchase rights for additional 25 MAX planes. In 2017, therefore, the carrier converted 10 of the ordered 737 MAX 8 to newer 737 MAX 10.

The Malaysian carrier, in turn, is also facing problems and is still recovering from the two disastrous tragedies it experienced in 2014, when one aircraft mystically disappeared and another one was shot down over Ukraine. Thus, it is reasonable for the carrier to review the order and take actions to secure its future.