Boeing Announces Big 737 MAX Order

Boeing has confirmed a big order for its 737 MAX series, with BOC Aviation committing to the aircraft.

The American planemaker has had a strong relationship with BOC Aviation for some time, and now the order book has increased to 139 unfilled orders.

As part of the latest commitment, the leading global lessor has confirmed it’ll order 50 of the middle ground 737-8s, in addition to existing commitments to the -8 model and the -9.

BOC Aviation sees the purchase as essential to providing solutions to airlines worldwide that require the most advanced single-aisle jets to develop their business, especially their future fleet.

Single-aisle jets such as the 737 MAX hold a vital place in the industry, with over 75% of future deliveries for the commercial airplanes division across planemakers to account for this type of aircraft in coming decades.

As a result, with valuable delivery slots being captured, airlines and lessors need to dip into the market and secure their purchases sooner rather than later.

These substantial purchases, therefore, keep coming as planemakers look to battle it out for valuable contracts and see their backlogs continue to increase tenfold.

Boeing calls the deal a positive one. They see the investment as a further demonstration of the 737 MAX’s importance for operators and the confidence, especially that of lessors, in its usage across many airlines.

These 737-8, part of the 737 MAX family, can seat up to just over 200 passengers depending on the configuration chosen by the specific customer. Pairing with the efficiency on paper, these have been fantastic planes to acquire across a long-term period.

For Boeing, however, the many issues the program has experienced have hindered its operational successes. BOC Aviation hopes to solve this problem relatively soon through its latest purchase and long-standing commitment.

The Aircraft Delivery Problem

Arguably, the only problem with the backlogs increasing tenfold and the massive demand for airplanes has been planemakers such as Boeing’s ability to keep on top of demand and ship off aircraft to customers on time.

Frustratingly, airline customers haven’t had their planes from Boeing deliveries on time due to increased oversight. Although this is not isolated and has occurred with Airbus aircraft, the impact from Boeing has been worsened by oversight and production caps.

Therefore, while these orders are necessary and show that there remains confidence in the product on paper, Boeing is relying heavily on the assumption that it will be able to clean up its act in the coming years and begin increasing production.

Ultimately, the 737 MAX production caps that have been imposed have resulted in output rates dropping lower than what would ideally be reached monthly to work through the backlog.

With these rates consistently dropping, airlines have been unable to take on planes and have had to retain older, less efficient jets, leading to financial and operational pressures.