Texas-based carrier, Southwest Airlines has announced that it will be ordering an additional 34 737 MAX aircraft from Boeing. The low-cost airline announced that it has entered into a “Supplemental Agreement” with the US aircraft manufacturer and has increased its firm orders for 2022 with the addition of 34 Boeing 737 MAX 7 aircraft.
According to Southwest Airlines, this new agreement will see an additional 2 aircraft options added to the airline’s order for 2022 with the other 32 aircraft options being added over the next couple of years. This means Southwest Airlines has a total of 234 737 MAX 7 aircraft on order.
In a company statement seen by AeroNewsX, Southwest Airlines stated that it also plans to accelerate “32 options into 2023, 16 options into 2024, 16 options into 2025.” The company also confirmed that it has also “added 32 new options into 2026 through 2027.” This brings the carrier’s total option order book for either 37 MAX 7s or MAX 8s to 268.
This officially brings Southwest Airlines total firm and option order book to 660 aircraft and mostly consisting of 737 MAX 7s and MAX 8s. The company also revised its aircraft capital spending figures for next year and now plans to spend “approximately $1.5 billion in 2022.”
Previously, the airline was only planning on spending approximately $700 million, however, due to what it described as “improving revenue trends,” Southwest Airlines has decided to spend more money over the coming years on new, more fuel-efficient aircraft.
Over the next 10 to 15 years, Southwest Airlines plans to retire “30 to 35 of its Boeing 737-700 aircraft annually.” Southwest Airlines currently has 383 firm orders for 737 MAX aircraft which includes MAX 7 and MAX 8s. However, the Texas-based carrier may need to convert more of its options into firm orders as according to planespotters.net, Southwest Airlines only has around 389 Boeing 737-700 in service.
Southwest Airlines doesn’t seem phased by the scenario that the airline could short 6 aircraft in terms of firm orders and has stated that it “retains significant flexibility to manage its fleet size.” Southwest Airlines acknowledged that it still has a total of 268 options up until 2027, including 40 737 MAX options for 2022. Southwest Airlines concluded by stating that it will continue to evaluate these options as the airline undergoes this recovery period.
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Source: https://aeronewsx.com/southwest-airlines-orders-34-extra-boeing-737-max-aircraft/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=southwest-airlines-orders-34-extra-boeing-737-max-aircraft
