Boeing has lost dozens of orders for the 737 MAX this week…
FlyDubai cancels some 737 MAX orders
FlyDubai has this week announced that it has reached an agreement with Boeing to reduce the number of 737 MAX aircraft on order by 65. The government-owned Dubai-based airline exclusively operates a fleet of Boeing 737s.
FlyDubai claims that this decision follows a review of the company’s strategy in light of the coronavirus pandemic and the impact it has had on travel. The terms of the deal are unknown — we don’t know how much FlyDubai had to pay to cancel this order, and/or if this was part of compensation related to the grounding of the 737 MAX.
For some context:
- FlyDubai initially operated a fleet of 40 Boeing 737-800s
- FlyDubai ordered a total of 250 Boeing 737 MAXs, including 130 737 MAX 8s, 70 737 MAX 9s, and 50 737 MAX 10s; these planes were ordered in 2013 and 2017
- With FlyDubai reducing its order by 65 aircraft, the airline will eventually take delivery of a total of 185(ish) 737 MAXs
- FlyDubai has already taken delivery of 16 Boeing 737 MAX jets, though as you’d expect, entry into service for these planes has largely been delayed due to the 737 MAX being grounded; the airline plans to take delivery of an additional 11 737 MAXs before the end of 2021
On the surface the 737 MAX has been a fantastic plane for FlyDubai over previous generation 737s — it has improved range and fuel efficiency, and a fully flat business class product.
FlyDubai’s full potential still isn’t being realized
The pandemic has given a lot of airlines reality checks, and I think FlyDubai is no exception. Even with this order cancelation, FlyDubai is still poised to grow more than 400% bigger than it currently is. The plane currently has just over 50 planes, while it could eventually have over 200 planes.
The airline may retire some older generation aircraft over time (though not out of…