United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby has highlighted that the airline may be considering “alternative plans” for its upcoming 737 MAX-10 aircraft, with delays likely to affect the certification and subsequent delivery of the new type.
United has orders for 277 MAX-10s with options for another 200, making the airline the largest customer of latest as-yet-uncertified member of the MAX family. Speaking to CNBC News, Kirby explained that although the order was by no means cancelled, United was working on “alternative plans”.
“I think the MAX 9 grounding is probably the straw that broke the camel’s back for us,” he highlighted, adding that United will “at least build the plan that doesn’t have the MAX in it”.
Acknowledging the 24 aircraft deliveries United failed to receive on time from Boeing last year, Kirby added that ongoing issues surrounding the MAX-9 and associated manufacturing problems at Boeing would, in a best-case scenario, contribute to pushing United’s initial MAX-10 delivery dates “five years behind”. Although he declined to comment whether United might turn to rival manufacturer Airbus to help address the deficit caused by the delay of United’s MAX-10 orders, Kirby added that he was “disappointed that the manufacturing challenges do keep happening at Boeing, this isn’t new”.
However, Kirby added: “We’re Boeing’s biggest customer in the world, they’re our biggest partner in the world. We need Boeing to succeed and I have a lot of confidence in the people at Boeing”. He added that although the anticipated delays “[mean] we probably don’t grow quite as fast as we were hoping,” United are still “going to be, in absolute, the fastest growing airline in the history of world aviation”.
United was forced to ground 79 of its MAX 9 aircraft earlier this month following the explosive decompression of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, which has left all affected configurations of the type out of service. The FAA has now published an inspection and maintenance procedure by which aircraft may be returned to service subsequent to satisfactory assessment.