Southwest today firmly ordered 150 B737MAX and thus became the launch customer. Southwest also has 150 options for the MAX. The airline can accept both the -7 and the -8.
Southwest also ordered another 58 B737NG and changed all of their delivieries in 2012 and 2013 from the -700NG to the -800NG.
I think we can expect now some more firm orders for the B737MAX until the end of the year...
Since Southwest has committed to being the launch customer and will have influence in the final design of the 737Max, will this be a positive to other carriers who would also benefit from the mission/design of the Southwest "model", or will it deter any from following suit. That is, is the Southwest model applicable to other Carriers and a favorable basis for additional orders?
ReplyDeleteSouthwest obviously does not require the aircraft to fly longer routes than todays NG aircraft - nor does SWA require the aircraft to carry more payload. As the new engines give the aircraft the ability to fly longer routes and/or more payload through burning less fuel without changing the MTOW of the aircraft I do not expect that any airline is suffering from the "non-demanding" demands from SWA.
ReplyDeleteIt would be a litttle bit different if there is an airline that demands even more range than the engine "delivers" through the better fuel burn. Then the aircraft would need some structural enhancements to handle a higher MTOW. If SWA would deny Boeing to do so, these airlines would suffer...but at this point this is only hypothetical.