Boeing has received a billion-dollar order for its 787 Dreamliner long-haul jet and 737 Max medium-haul jet. United Airlines has ordered 100 Dreamliners, both sides said. In addition, the Lufthansa partner from the USA secured purchase options for a further 100 aircraft of the type.
United will also purchase 44 737 Max aircraft, order 56 more of these aircraft, and secure 100 additional options. There had already been speculation about the Dreamliner order. Nevertheless, Boeing shares rose by around two percent in premarket US trading.
The order should underpin Boeing’s plans to ramp up 787 production. From May 2021 to August 2022, the manufacturer was not allowed to deliver the type due to production defects. Boeing has to rework many machines. In any case, the slump in long-haul business during the Corona crisis slowed down the need for such aircraft.
A billion dollar order
According to the price list, the 200 medium- and long-haul jets that have now been firmly ordered have a total value of more than $40 billion, depending on the variant. However, large discounts are the rule. According to an estimate by the Bloomberg news agency, the machines are likely to be worth more than 17 billion dollars (16 billion euros).
Airlines are taking a risk when ordering the largest and smallest variants of the 737 Max medium-haul jet. Because the approval of the Max 7 and Max 10 versions is dragging on – and an important deadline is about to expire.
However, there have recently been positive signals: According to a plan by a democratic senator, the manufacturer could avoid installing a modern cockpit alarm system, as is actually required for new aircraft types from next year, as Bloomberg had reported. In return, Boeing would have to give the two latest Max variants an additional sensor.
United meanwhile wants to renew the fleet with the new machines and secure growth. For some time now, Airbus and Boeing have been unable to keep up with the production of certain models. Delivery bottlenecks for important parts are plaguing the companies. At the same time, travel demand recovered surprisingly quickly and strongly after the pandemic, especially on short and medium-haul routes.
