'Boeing needs to become a better company': Airlines slow growth plans amid frustration with planemaker

13.03.2024 - 14:57 / thepointsguy.com / Scott Kirby / Robert Isom / Bob Jordan / Airlines

Several U.S. airlines said Tuesday that they were reducing growth targets for 2024 and even adjusting their long-term plans because of the ongoing crisis at Boeing.

In a scene reminiscent of 2019, when the global grounding of the 737 MAX fleet limited deliveries for nearly two years — and left several carriers with scores of planes parked in storage — several carriers said that the latest episode stemming from an incident with Boeing's MAX had impacted their plans for at least the coming year, likely longer.

The comments came during an industry conference hosted by JP Morgan.

Want more aviation news? Sign up for TPG's free biweekly Aviation newsletter.

Southwest no longer expects Boeing's smallest and longest-range version of the narrow-body workhorse, the 737 MAX 7, to be delivered this year, CEO Bob Jordan said, and the airline expects to receive 46 of the MAX 8 model this year, down from an earlier forecast of 58.

Including the MAX 7, the airline had originally expected to receive 79 new airplanes this year. Southwest plans to reduce its capacity for the year and will cut most hiring, including pilots and flight attendants, due to the lower forecasted aircraft deliveries.

Alaska Airlines said that its capacity plans are "in flux" due to shifting timelines around deliveries.

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby, meanwhile, said that the airline had instructed Boeing to stop building 737 MAX 10 jets for the carrier until it becomes clearer "if and when" the airplane will be certified. The airline has asked Boeing to instead produce the smaller, but already certified, 737 MAX 9 during those manufacturing slots.

The smallest MAX 7 and largest MAX 10 variants have not yet been certified by the FAA, while the midsized MAX 8 and MAX 9 operate for airlines around the globe. Certification on the newer models has been progressively delayed as Boeing works to satisfy numerous safety requirements, including some implemented in the aftermath of the two fatal MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people and led to the grounding.

Related: What to know about the Boeing 737 MAX 9 and the MAX series

CEO Robert Isom of American Airlines, which operates the 737 MAX 8, said that the airline does not expect to begin adding the 737 MAX 10s announced as part of a recent order to its fleet plans until 2028, and does not expect any relevant delays even though the airline says that it has negotiated contingencies to switch its order to a different MAX variant if there are further delays

Delta Air Lines, which announced an order for the MAX 10 during 2022's Farnborough Air Show but does not fly either of the current MAX models, did not suggest any cuts to its capacity.

The Boeing crisis stems from a Jan. 5 incident on