Air Lease Corp, one of the world’s largest aircraft lessors, announced the expansion of its 737 MAX jet acquisition agreement with Boeing. Based in Los Angeles, the company added 32 737 MAX 8 and MAX 9 to its original order. ALC now has a total of 130 737 MAX in its backlog, including the order placed in February.
“Following our memorandum of understanding with Boeing in February for these 32 737 MAX aircraft, we are pleased to announce the signing of this definitive purchase agreement. We believe that the economic and operating advantages of the 737 MAX will serve our airline customers as well as they favor modern, fuel efficient aircraft,” said John L. Plueger, Chief Executive Officer and President of Air Lease Corporation.
“The 737 MAX family has already proven its value within ALC’s narrowbody portfolio, providing operators with excellent fuel efficiency and flexibility across different networks,” said Ihssane Mounir, Boeing senior vice president of Commercial Sales & Marketing.
After a long period of losing orders or seeing deals redone with fewer aircraft, Boeing has been able to expand the order book for the 737 MAX family, in part because of the huge availability of planes.
One of the likely new customers for the single-aisle jet series is Delta Air Lines, which could close an order for 100 planes soon.
However, the planemaker continues with immense difficulties and delays in the development of the MAX 7 and MAX 10 variants that do not yet have a known FAA certification deadline.
