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Boeing has alerted Southwest Airlines (WN, Dallas Love Field) to the possibility of fewer B737 MAX deliveries in 2024—46, instead of the previously estimated 79—all of which will be the B737-8 model.
Southwest, which had originally intended to get 21 to 27 B737-7 aircraft this year, said in a market study that was made public ahead of this week’s JP Morgan Industrials Conference that it no longer expected to acquire and introduce the aircraft in 2024 due to the current certification situation. It also stated that Boeing had informed it to anticipate 46-8s in 2024, as opposed to the initial estimate of 58.
The company said, “Due to Boeing’s ongoing difficulties, the company anticipates a flexible delivery schedule and, as a result, plans to reduce capacity and re-optimize schedules, primarily for the back half of 2024. This is expected to cause the company’s full-year 2024 capacity plans to decrease by at least one point annually.”
As of January 25, 307 B737-7s, 188 B737-8s, and 199 options for either of the two variants were included in Southwest’s contractual order book.
Southwest Airlines had stated earlier this month in The Air Current that it will no longer be taking any B737-7s before late 2025 or possibly early 2026. In a similar vein, Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) thinks that 2027 may be the delivery year for the B737-10. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States has not yet certified either version.
The FAA has decided not to approve the manufacturer’s requests for an increase in output or additional manufacturing lines for the narrow body family until all issues are rectified because of continued quality-control issues at Boeing.
