Boeing delivers a 737 Max to one of the airlines that suffered a fatal plane crash
The other airline that suffered a fatal accident involving the Max, Lion Air of Indonesia, has yet to take a new Max delivery.
It’s a sign that demand for the plane is returning to pre-crash levels. Boeing has so far delivered 443 of the 737 Max jets since the grounding ended, of which 181 have been delivered so far this year, compared to 105 delivered in the first half of 2021.
Ethiopian did not respond to a request for comment on the delivery. Its website lists four 737 Max planes in its fleet and 24 more on order. It’s unclear how the June delivery affects these numbers. The airline also has 27 older versions of the 737 Max in its fleet.
The purchase was criticized by Robert Clifford, an attorney for the families of the crash victims.
“It is truly disappointing – a sad reminder for the families of the crash victims nearly three and a half years later, knowing that the Boeing Max will fly again even in Ethiopia, where the crash happened,” did he declare.
Boeing has faced myriad problems in recent years, beyond the drop in demand for passenger planes that arose during the pandemic. It is still awaiting approval to resume delivering the 787 wide-body aircraft that have been halted due to quality control issues.
Deliveries are crucial to Boeing’s bottom line because it earns most of the money from airline sales at the time of delivery. Analysts polled by Refinitiv expect another narrow loss for Boeing when it reports second-quarter results later this month.
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