Boeing reportedly warns of further 737 Max delays

US plane maker has already been pushing delivery deadlines

Boeing has already been grappling with late handovers amid supply chain woes. AFP

US plane maker Boeing has notified some 737 Max customers that aircraft due for delivery in 2025 and 2026 could face additional delays of up to six months as it grapples with mounting challenges.

Delivery timelines can be pushed by three to six months on top of already-late handovers, sources told Bloomberg.

Boeing has curbed production after a door plug detached mid-flight on an Alaska Airlines 737 Max aeroplane in January, which prompted the US Federal Aviation Administration to temporarily ground about 171 737-9 Max planes.

The company is not permitted by the FAA to raise the output of the narrowbody beyond 38 jets per month until it is convinced quality controls are in place and the supply chain can keep pace.

Meanwhile, Boeing this month also pleaded guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge, settling an investigation into two fatal 737 Max crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia over five months in 2018 and 2019 that resulted in the deaths of 346 people.

The company will pay a fine of $243.6 million to resolve the US Justice Department’s investigation into the two crashes and has agreed to spend $455 million over the next three years to improve its compliance and safety programmes.

The proposed plea agreement, which requires judicial approval, would label Boeing as a convicted felon in connection with crashes.

The industry has already been grappling with years-long aviation supply chain problems, ranging from delayed plane deliveries to shortage of parts and fewer skilled workers.

This has hampered airlines' growth plans as they cannot ensure additional capacity to meet demand.

Boeing's delays to deliver the 777x, the newer version of its 777 wide-body jets, has forced Dubai-based Emirates, the world’s largest long-haul airline, to retrofit additional 777s.

Last month, Emirates president Tim Clark said that the manufacturer should pay for the airline’s multibillion-dollar retrofit programme.

The airline’s 777x order book currently has a total of 205 jets, making it the biggest buyer of Boeing wide bodies.

In May, flydubai’s chief executive also said that the airline was concerned “about the delays and all the negative issues that are in the pipeline or in the media”.

“But we work closely with Boeing, they work very hard to regain the trust of the customers and we are one of their customers,” Ghaith Al Ghaith told reporters at the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai.

Earlier this year, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways' chief executive said jet delivery delays by Boeing had hampered the airline's network growth plans.

The airline, whose fleet includes the Boeing 777, 787 and the 777 freighter jets, took delivery of three new 787-9 Dreamliners in February, eight months later than the scheduled handover date in June last year, which affected its route network plans, Antonoaldo Neves told The National.

With inputs from Bloomberg