iscover
Boeing is reportedly working on a clean-sheet replacement for its 737 MAX family.
According to reports this week in The Wall Street Journal, the planemaker’s CEO, Kelly Ortberg, met with Rolls-Royce officials in the UK earlier this year to discuss engine options for the aircraft, while “a person familiar with the plans” said Boeing is designing a flight deck for a new narrow-body.
A new senior product chief has also been appointed for Boeing’s commercial plane business, the WSJ reported, who in a previous role had designed new aircraft; according to the newspaper’s sources, the potential 737 replacement is still in very early stages of development.
Virgin Australia is currently the only Australian airline operating the 737 MAX 8, though both it and Qantas fly the older 737NG family, which includes the 737-700 and 737-800. Virgin currently has 14 MAX 8s in its fleet, and last year converted a number of MAX 10 orders to MAX 8s due to ongoing delays.
In a statement, a Boeing spokesperson said the company is “focused on our recovery plan, including delivering on our existing backlog of nearly 6,000 commercial airplanes and certifying the new 737-7, 737-10 and 777-9 models”.
“At the same time, as we have done over the decades, our team evaluates the market, advances key technologies, and improves our financial performance, so that we will be ready when the time is right to move forward with a new product,” the spokesperson said.
The possible new aircraft comes as Boeing’s major rival, Airbus, has overtaken it in orders for single-aisle jets, with the A320 family having received 4,540 orders since 2020 to the 737 MAX’s 3,300, after adjusting for cancellations.
Qantas is one major airline group that has opted for the A320neo family over the 737 MAX family for its fleet renewal, with 48 of the A321XLR jets on order to replace its older 737-800s, the first of which operated its maiden commercial flights last week.
Boeing earlier this year made a deal with the US Federal Aviation Administration to avoid a criminal trial over the crashes of two MAX 8s, Lion Air Flight 610 on 29 October 2018 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 on 10 March 2019, despite last year announcing it would plead guilty.
The planemaker had, in January, posted the second biggest loss in its history, ending up US$11.8 billion in the red for 2024 and taking its total losses since 2019 to more than US$35 billion.
The results followed a year to forget for Boeing, which began with the mid-air blowout of a door plug on board an Alaska Airlines MAX 9 in January 2024, over which passengers reached an undisclosed settlement in a lawsuit against the planemaker and the airline earlier this year.
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says:I don’t like criticising when things are down but in this case Boeing hasn’t just dropped the ball, they have lost it. The facts are, the B737 family has been great but, it is time to move on and catch up with the 2025’s plus.
Great that as published Boeing is in touch with Rolls Royce re powerplants but let’s hope that they consult widely with systems below decks, manual full hold bulk loading these days is just not on as one loses flexibility, speed and product security, not forgetting worker potential injuries. It just has to be containerised. In any event, most likely 3 years before we see the results. Concentrate on the B777X, get that right then move on and in that time, customers awaiting any version of the current Max may wish to opt for the newer and much needed airframe suitable for the next 20 plus years. Can’t keep going the Max way!!!!