American Airlines Takes Delivery Of 50th Boeing 737 MAX 8

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1 year ago

Summary

American Airlines recently received its 50th Boeing 737 MAX 8, nearly six years after its first MAX arrived.
The airline plans to eventually operate a fleet of 130 MAXs, with 80 still to be delivered.

American Airlines took delivery of its 50th Boeing 737 MAX 8 last week. It has been almost six years since American welcomed its first MAX.

American inducts 50th MAX

The carrier reached the milestone of 50 737 MAX 8s following the delivery of N319TE last week. The narrowbody flew from Boeing Field (BFI) in Seattle to American’s hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) on July 19th.

The brand-new jet departed Boeing Field at 14:08, over two hours later than scheduled, and landed at Dallas/Fort Worth at 19:29. That makes it eight 737 MAX deliveries for American in 2023, with six of those arriving since the beginning of June.

After suffering production and quality control issues earlier this year, Boeing got back on track with deliveries in May, flying 35 MAXs to customers that month, rising to 48 in June.

American and the MAX

Since firming up options for another 30 jets, American will eventually operate a fleet of 130 MAXs, meaning there are still 80 to be delivered. The carrier recently said it will take delivery of a total of 23 planes in 2023, of which 13 have already arrived. This leaves 10 to go, and two of these are believed to be MAXs.

Photo: EQRoy | Shutterstock

American welcomed the first MAX 8 into its fleet in September 2017 and would operate over 20 MAXs by the end of 2018. Following the second MAX crash involving Ethiopian Airlines in March 2019, American would wait over 18 months for another MAX delivery, which eventually came in December 2020.

The airline’s MAXs can seat up to 172 passengers in a two-class configuration – 16 in business and 156 in economy.

Highest quarterly revenues, pilot negotiations

American posted its highest-ever quarterly revenues for Q2 2023, generating $14.1 billion – this is over $500 million more than the same period in 2022. However, shares went down by 6% on the day of its earnings call after American provided an underwhelming guidance for the next quarter.

Photo: American Airlines

Additionally, in light of United Airlines’ deal with its pilots, American has raised its contract offer to its own pilots, inevitably adding to its operational costs – the new offer, matching United’s rates, will amount to around $9 billion over the next four years. Its pilot union was due to vote on a previous offer by July 24th, but has now suspended the ratification vote until “a date and time to be determined.”

How often have you flown on an American Airlines Boeing 737 MAX? How does the experience compare to other narrowbodies in American’s fleet? Let us know in the comments.

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