Boeing can reverse the loss of two traditional customers, KLM and Qantas, with an order to be placed by Allegiant Air, a low-cost US airline that currently operates only Airbus A320 family aircraft.
According to Reuters, the carrier is about to announce an order for 50 Boeing 737 MAX in a deal worth $5 billion. Both Boeing and Allegiant declined to comment.
If confirmed, the order would be a relief to the US planemaker, which was defeated in two bids where it allegedly would have an advantage as KLM and Qantas currently operate their planes.
But the Australian airline ended up preferring the A220 and A320 models, which have a more flexible capacity within their plans. KLM, on the other hand, considered the A321neo an aircraft with more potential to replace dozens of 737 NGs used by it and also by Transavia.
Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air operates a fleet of 121 Airbus planes, of which only 13 were purchased directly from the manufacturer. The 35 A319 have an average of 16.5 years and the 86 A320, 14 years, according to Planespotters data.
The company even flew the old DC-9 and MD-80, now inherited by Boeing, when it debuted in 1998.
