Southwest in talks with Boeing for additional 737 Max orders

Bloomberg

Southwest Airlines Co. is considering an order for “more than a handful” of Boeing Co.’s 737 Max aircraft as the nation’s largest discount carrier benefits from lower tax rates and expanding travel demand.
Discussions with Boeing are ongoing, Southwest Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly said without specifying a number for a potential order. The CEO reaffirmed that the airline would potentially add as many as 500 more planes in the long-term future. Kelly’s comments underscored Southwest’s plans for growth as it experiences a dip in its fleet after retiring a group of its oldest 737s late in 2017. The CEO said in December that Southwest intended to use some savings from the reduction in corporate tax rates to expand its 706-plane fleet or replace aging aircraft.
“I don’t expect that we would have access to any more deliveries this year, so it probably would begin no earlier than next year,” Kelly said at the opening of the carrier’s new $250 million pilot training and flight operations centre. “With the extra capital, we are working on ways to better serve our customers and the first place we want to look is to continue to modernise our fleet.”
Southwest has 227 unfilled orders for the Max, the newest version of Boeing’s best-selling jet, according to Boeing’s website. The carrier, which was the launch customer for the upgraded 737, has taken deliveries of 13 of the aircraft so far. Southwest is the largest operator of Boeing 737s.
The airline in January converted existing options to firm orders for 40 Max 8 aircraft, while delaying deliveries of 23 Max 7s, the smaller variant, until 2023 and 2024. Taking the additional Max 8 planes in 2019 and 2020 means Southwest will receive some of that model every year through 2025.
The carrier remains on track to receive federal regulatory approval to operate flights from the US west coast to Hawaii, Kelly said. If certification is received by October, Southwest should fly to the island state by the end of this year, he said, “but there are no assurances that will happen.”
Southwest plans to serve “multiple” destinations in Hawaii and still is considering flights among the islands, an idea that “we’ve become more intrigued with,” Kelly said.

Jet Air to buy 75 Max planes
Bloomberg

Jet Airways India agreed to buy 75 Boeing 737 Max aircraft, confirming an earlier planned order to help meet demand in the world’s fastest growing major aviation market.
The order is valued at $7.2 billion to $9.7 billion based on list prices for the 737 Max narrow-body family, before discounts that are customary for large purchases.
Jet Airways, which didn’t specify the 737 Max variant for this order, flies an all-Boeing narrow-body fleet and already has made an
order for the Max 8, the most popular of the planemaker’s revamped 737 models.
Jet Airways becomes the latest carrier in India to order more planes to meet burgeoning demand, fueled by an expanding middle class that’s finding air travel affordable. SpiceJet Ltd. has ordered more than 200 narrow-body aircraft from Boeing, while market leader IndiGo, operated by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd., is the biggest customer for Airbus SE’s A320neo jets.
Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways PJSC holds a 24 percent stake in Jet Airways. The Indian carrier was in talks with planemakers to buy 75 to 100 single-aisle jets in the fiscal year through March 2018, CEO Vinay Dube said in October.