Boeing 737 MAX

Whether more management heads roll at Boeing remains to be seen now that Dennis Muilenburg has been fired as chief executive.

United Airlines has removed its Boeing 737 MAXs from schedules through June 4, 2020—a three-month extension that signals a growing lack of confidence that the model’s grounding is close to ending.

Spirit AeroSystems, the leading supplier of 737 aerostructures to Boeing, announced Dec. 20 that it will stop producing new 737 aerostructures and halt deliveries to its OEM customer on Jan. 1, 2020.

Days after Boeing announced a coming halt to production of its 737 MAX, the first forecasts to emerge from financial analysts covering aerospace and defense (A&D) still see good business prospects for the sector in 2020 but with several caveats, and with far cloudier horizons.

Days after Boeing announced a production halt of the 737 MAX, the three major U.S. credit rating agencies have turned slightly negative on the manufacturer with new outlooks that stress growing demands on the company’s credit access and softening cash prospects.

Following Boeing’s announcement that it would temporarily halt production of the 737 MAX, its large and small suppliers are assessing the potential impact to their operations.

Airbus is not benefiting from Boeing’s ongoing 737 MAX troubles, including the U.S. manufacturer’s Dec. 16 decision to suspend production of the type, Airbus chief commercial officer Christian Scherer said.

Canada could see a 7% capacity jump after modest 2019 expansion.

All-Boeing operator Icelandair has pushed back its planning for the Boeing 737 MAX’s return to operational service by five months to May 2020, prompting a delayed phase-out of some of its 757s.

Copa Airlines plans to densify its Boeing 737-800s starting in 2021 and will add a net total of three airframes in 2020 as it catches up on 737 MAX

Southwest Airlines says fourth-quarter (Q4) unit revenue will be flat up to 2% year-over-year on the strength of solid bookings and yield trends, likely boosted by ongoing capacity pressure created by the 737 MAX groundings, the carrier reported.

Boeing, citing “uncertainty” in when the 737 MAX will be cleared to return to service as a key factor, will suspend 737 production in January 2020.

WASHINGTON—The FAA’s top official remains confident in the agency’s certification methodology and processes for evaluating safety-critical issues

Boeing is reportedly delaying plans to accelerate production to 57 per month until 2021.

FAA Administrator Steve Dickson suggested Boeing improve the “quality and timeliness” of information it is providing the agency to support getting the 737 MAX back into service, part of a larger message that Boeing’s efforts should focus on meeting regulatory demands, not influencing the process.

Southwest Airlines will share $125 million with employees as part of a deal struck with Boeing that covers part of what the airline is losing because of the 737 MAX groundings, the carrier said Dec. 12.

Ryanair has warned that it will be forced to cut the number of flights next summer and close some bases because of delays to deliveries of Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft.

As the future of Boeing’s 737 Max 8s continue to hang in the balance, airlines around the world are counting the cost of the ongoing dilemma.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary expects the Irish low-cost carrier’s first five Boeing 737 Max aircraft to be in service during the winter 2019-20 season, but said the grounding of the jet has cost it “about one million passengers this year”.

This week: Virgin Australia, Boeing, Air Canada, Aeroflot and British Airways.

Southwest Airlines has as many as 50 additional opportunities to expand its route map in North America and parts of South America as the US low-cost carrier prepares to launch services to four destinations in Hawaii.

Airbus has sealed a record $50bn order at the Dubai Air Show, one of the largest commercial plane deals in history, but Boeing has hit back with a $27bn agreement of its own.

Boeing made more than 200 aircraft deliveries during the third quarter - a record for the US plane maker.