Three years after the global grounding of the Boeing 737 Max fleet began and more than a year into the type’s return to service, there are more than 500 examples undertaking commerical operations around the world.
Despite recent setbacks – notably when it comes to Airbus narrowbody orders from Qantas and KLM – the Boeing programme has enjoyed some brighter times since Gol completed the first post-grounding flight in early December 2020.
But the status of the 383 CFM International Leap-1B-powered Max jets – 368 in service, 15 in storage – that were part of airline fleets in March 2019 helps to tell the story of a turbulent few years for the Boeing programme and the wider industry.
That story takes in regulatory challenges, airline failures, fleet restructurings, Covid-19 impacts and more besides.
So, where are those jets today?
In total, by late February 2022, 230 of the 383 Max aircraft that had been delivered to carriers by 9 March 2019 had re-entered service, according to FlightGlobal analysis of Cirium fleets data.
Evolution of Max fleets at operators of the type in March 2019 | |||
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Source: FlightGlobal analysis of Cirium fleets data. Note: Data pulled on 22 February 2022. Data covers Max 8s and Max 9s. Does not include operators that took Max jets for the first time post-March 2019 (see table below). *Includes five ex-Jet Airways examples. **Transferred to parent Singapore Airlines |
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Operator | Status on 9 Mar 2019 (in service + storage) |
Status of those jets on 22 Feb 2022 |
Total Max fleet on 22 Feb 2022 |
Southwest Airlines | 34 | 34 | 69 |
American Airlines | 24 | 24 | 42 |
Air Canada | 24 | 24 | 32 |
China Southern Airlines | 24 | 0+24 | 0+24 |
Norwegian | 18 | 0+8 | 0+9 |
Air China | 15+1 | 0+16 | 0+16 |
United Airlines | 14 | 14 | 46 |
WestJet | 13 | 13 | 14 |
SpiceJet | 13 | 11+2 | 11+2 |
Turkish Airlines | 12 | 12 | 25 |
flydubai | 13+1 | 14 | 26+1 |
Shanghai Airlines | 11 | 0+11 | 0+11 |
Hainan Airlines | 11 | 0+11 | 0+11 |