Delta will order one hundred Boeing 737 MAX 10 aircraft
U.S. carrier Delta Air Lines announced on Monday that it will purchase 100 Boeing 737 MAX 10 aircraft, with options to purchase an additional 30 aircraft for a total purchase price of about $13.5 billion at list prices.
According to Reuters reports from March and this week, Delta is in talks with Airbus to increase an existing order of A220 planes, and Airbus is reportedly close to an agreement to sell Delta 100 MAX 10 planes.
At the Farnborough Airshow, Delta said that it will begin receiving MAX 10 deliveries in the year 2025. To date, Delta remains the only major US airline without a MAX in its fleet or on order. After two deadly crashes in which 346 passengers lost their lives, the MAX was taken out of service for 20 months. After further changes to the software and the education of personnel, the grounding was lifted in the month of November of 2020.
Boeing senior vice president of commercial sales and marketing Ihssane Mounir remarked at a signing event, “This is a huge testament to the value of the MAX, “What an endorsement from a world-class airline.”
Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Stan Deal said the company has seen “strong demand” for the MAX since the planes were allowed to resume flying again. This desire has resulted in over 1,000 gross orders and 1.7 million flight hours.
Delta’s Boeing 737 fleet will grow to almost 300 aircraft with the new order, making it the second-largest fleet family at the airline after the Airbus A320.
According to a separate Reuters report from the air show, Delta is expected to sign an add-on deal for about a dozen Airbus A220s on Tuesday.
Boeing’s 737 MAX 10, the largest member of its best-selling single-aisle jet family, must be certified by the end of the year. Unless Congress acts to override the statute in 2020, it will be required to implement new cockpit alerting requirements.
In an interview published this month by Aviation Week, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said the company would be compelled to scrap the 737 MAX 10 due to regulatory concerns. The cancellation of the MAX 10 was “not a high probability path.” Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Stan Deal stated on Sunday.
According to Delta, “the agreement has adequate protection in place, including allowing Delta to shift to another model of the MAX family if necessary.” including the option to switch to a different MAX model if necessary due to a certification holdup.
Before deciding to sign the contract, Delta and Boeing held lengthy conversations. Delta’s senior vice president Mahendra Nair admitted, “It took us a long time getting here,” and the company has backup plans in case the MAX 10 does not go forward. This is the jet we truly want, so here’s hoping Boeing gets the certification delay money it needs.
With respect to fuel efficiency, the MAX 10 aircraft will be 20%-30% better than the planes it is replacing at Delta.
