United Airlines is preparing to receive the first 737 MAX after the Boeing jet was grounded due to safety concerns. The US airline confirmed that the aircraft will be delivered next week and that seven more units will also be shipped in December. In all, United has 186 firm orders for the 737 MAX of which it received only 14 aircraft before the grounding.
The information comes amid a series of positive news about Boeing’s best-selling jet. On Thursday, Ryanair expanded its order from 135 aircraft to 210 units, by confirming 75 purchase options for the 737 8-200 model.
Also in recent days, rival American Airlines has flown with employees to demonstrate that MAX is safe. The company plans to put the 737 back into service as of December 29.
For Boeing, the resumption of deliveries is one of the highlights of its strategy to put the aircraft back on the market after 20 months of grounding caused by the two fatal accidents with the 737 MAX. Since then, the company has lost more than 1,000 orders and has seen its image questioned after successive scandals involving not only the 737 MAX but also the 787 Dreamliner.
Boeing currently has about 450 planes ready for delivery and intends to ship at least half of them to its customers within a year.
Return soon
In addition to the resumption of deliveries, Boeing is about to celebrate next week the first commercial flight of the 737 MAX. Brazilian Gol would be considering putting the aircraft back into service on December 10, after some demonstration flights that started on Thursday, taking on board the airline’s CEO, Paulo Kakinoff.
Other 737 MAX customers like Copa and Aeromexico also plan to rely on Boeing aircraft in the coming weeks. It will be the moment to know how the passengers will react, after two years of bad news about the aircraft in the world media.
