Orders for 737 Max touch 2,724, the fastest in Boeing history

Boeing’s Renton facility here is gearing up to produce the new ‘jewel in the crown’ in the 737 aircraft family – the 737 Max — that has given the US-based plane manufacturer the highest order for any aircraft in its 100-year-old history.

As on April 30, 2015, the order for 737 Max reached 2,724, faster than any other airplane in Boeing’s history, said George S Alabi, Regional Director, Product Marketing, Boeing.

Boeing has firm orders for the 737 Max from 57 customers, including India’s SpiceJet.

Of the total orders, Lion Air leads the table with 201, followed by Southwest with 200, Air Lease with 104, Norwegian, American Airlines and Ryanair ordering 100 each and Flydubai with 75.

SpiceJet is the only Indian airline to place an order for 42 aircraft, he said. And, workers are busy creating the assembly line at the huge Renton manufacturing facility to ensure that the 737 Max is ready for delivery in the third quarter of 2017, Alabi told visiting newspersons from India and the Middle East.

The 737 Max will offer a 14 per cent reduction in fuel costs when compared with the current 737 Next Generation (built in 1998) due to better engine and carbon brakes. It will consume 8 per cent less fuel when compared to the competing product Airbus 320.

“An airline will have 1 per cent lower cost per trip from the Max 737 aircraft. This is quite significant and helps operators in a volatile oil price environment. Having a fuel efficient plane gives an operator a competitive advantage and help operators take a long term view than relying on temporary drop in fuel price,” he said. The 737 Max will offer 12 additional seats when compared to A320. It will have 162 seats as against 150 in A320.

The new aircraft will offer an additional 500 nautical miles over the 737 Next Generation aircraft. This could help operators like Flydubai to extend its reach to the next level of potential destinations. For instance, the current 737 NG has a range to reach Chennai from Dubai but the 737 Max can go up to Bangkok, he said.

It will take five years from the firm concept stage in 2012 to deliver the first 737 Max in the first half of 2017. The goal is to have the complete airplane by the end of the year and transition in to the flight test in first half of 2016. The delivery will start in third quarter of 2017 with the US-based Southwest Airline being first customer to get the new plane, Alabi said.

There is no change in the firm commitment given by SpiceJet to purchase 42 Boeing 737 Max aircraft, Dinesh A Keskar, Senior Vice- President (Sales), Asia Pacific and India, Boeing, told BusinesssLine during an interaction here.

“SpiceJet has announced profits last quarter after a long time. The December quarter was a different story and we were worried too. But the new owner Ajay Singh has changed things around. Ajay just told me that things are reasonably good to do a controlled growth and do a managed profitability.” “With that firm commitment from Ajay, the issue of whether the order is real or not does not even exist. SpiceJet order is in our books. It is not like Kingfisher order of Airbus, which is still in the books but we have no idea whether it will happen,” said Keskar.

(The writer was in Seattle at the invitation of Flydubai)

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