Boeing lost 60 Max orders with virus vexing buyers

Bloomberg

Boeing Co’s order stockpile shrank further last month as more airlines and lessors backed out of commitments for the grounded 737 Max jetliner in a market devastated by the coronavirus pandemic.
The planemaker recorded
60 Max cancellations in June, including 47 that were already announced, according to the company’s website. The tally excluded Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA’s move to scrap all 97 of its remaining Boeing jets on order, since those deals haven’t been officially terminated. But the orders in peril from shaky buyers rose by 123 last month.
Customers have scrapped 373 orders for the Max this year as collapsing travel demand complicates Boeing’s efforts to shore up a plane that is supposed to be a critical source of cash. The company’s best-selling jet faces a long, slow comeback once regulators end a flying ban imposed in March 2019 after two fatal crashes. So far, about 2,480 deliveries of the Max have been postponed by at least a year due to disrupted production, according to Bank of America Corp.
“Once the aircraft is cleared to fly, the demand outlook for the product is uncertain,” Bank of America analyst Ron Epstein said in a report last week, noting that the Max is “strategically disadvantaged” compared with its Airbus SE counterpart, the A320neo.
“When demand returns to commercial aerospace, we expect operators to choose the untainted program first, before opting to order a Max,” Epstein said.
Aircraft lessors have been working with Boeing to pare speculative orders as the planemaker revises its delivery schedules, spurring a big chunk of recent Max cancellations.
Avolon Holdings Ltd dropped 17 aircraft, while BOC Aviation scrubbed a deal for 30 and Aviation Capital Group trimmed five of its orders in June.
“We have and will continue to work with our customers on specific timing and adjustment to deliveries,” Boeing Chief Financial Officer Greg Smith said in a statement.