Southwest prepared to wait for delayed Boeing MAX 7s, executive says

DUBLIN (Reuters) -Southwest Airlines is willing to wait until 2026 or 2027 if necessary to take delivery of Boeing (NYSE:) 737 MAX 7 aircraft, a senior executive said on Tuesday after safety concerns were likely to delay production.

Southwest, the largest customer of the MAX 7, has already switched dozens of MAX 7 orders due for delivery in 2024 to the larger MAX 8 to avoid delays. Vice President Treasurer Dean Jenkins said the airline would continue with this policy until the Boeing plane is ready.

On Monday, Boeing withdrew a request for a key safety exemption that could have allowed the Federal Aviation Administration to speed up certification.

“We understand Boeing’s position and the FAA’s position. … We just have to roll with the punches,” he told journalists on the sidelines of the Airline Economics conference in Dublin. “But we really want the aircraft.”

A harrowing mid-air cabin blowout on Jan. 5 has turned into a full-blown safety and reputational crisis for Boeing that will slow plane production and risks it ceding further market share to Airbus.

Southwest’s rival United Airlines has approached Airbus about buying more A321neo jets to fill a potential void left by delays to Boeing’s larger 737 MAX 10, which is expected to be certified after the MAX 7.

Asked if he would consider diversifying the U.S.-based airline’s fleet, Jenkins told journalists: “That’s not in the plans right now. Even if we wanted to, it’s a number of years before you could get planes from Airbus.”

Asked if there would still be room for the MAX 7 in the Southwest fleet if delivery was delayed to 2026 or 2027, he said: “Yeah, I think there is. … We really need that 7. We want it.”