The Irish–American commercial aviation financing and leasing company, GECAS Yesterday 17, April announced the cancellation of its 69 Boeing 737 MAX orders. The cancellation leaves the aircraft lessor with 29 delivered MAXs, in addition to 82 further 737 MAX orders.
The unit, GECAS, maintains 29 MAX aircraft in its fleet and has an additional 82 jets still on order from Boeing, it said. Demand for airplanes has taken a beating as the pandemic has brought air travel to a virtual halt, forcing several airlines to defer deliveries of planes to a later date.
Boeing halted production of the MAX in January after two fatal crashes in five months forced the plane’s grounding in March 2019. Boeing has said it hopes to win approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to return the plane to service in mid-2020.
In a statement released by the chief executive officer of GECAS
“Today’s agreement will help GECAS better align our available fleet with the needs of our global customer base.”
The move comes days after Boeing posted 150 737 MAX cancellations in March, including 75 previously reported from Irish leasing company Avolon. The remaining 75 cancellations were from buyers including Brazil’s GOL (GOLL4.SA).
Boeing said on Friday it had “come to an agreement with GECAS to restructure their MAX order book.”
“In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, this adjustment helps to balance supply and demand with market realities, especially in the leasing channel,” Boeing said, referring to the respiratory disease caused by the virus.
Boeing added that “disciplined adjustments provide us with greater flexibility to manage the 4,000 outstanding 737 orders and protect the value of the MAX in the marketplace.”
Culled from Reuters.com