Emirates Looking to Replace 737 MAX Planes With Airbus Models
Scott Dylan May 27, 2019
Emirates Airlines’ CEO is apparently eyeing Boeing competitors offerings in light of the recent mass grounding of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. CEO Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum wasn’t keeping quiet regarding his intentions to do whatever necessary during his visit to the Arabian Travel Market trade show in Dubai last week. It seems as though Airbus planes could be replacing some of the 737 planes Emirates currently has on order. Boeing 737 MAX airplanes around the world were grounded this spring following calls for the investigation of a fatal Ethiopian Airlines crash.
CEO Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum is in a tough spot at the moment. He cannot simply wait around and wonder if the more than 100 airplanes Emirates has on order from Boeing will ever be allowed to take to the skies. It has been revealed that Emirates is looking specifically at the Airbus A320 as a replacement option.
Emirates has a lot on the line when it comes to the future of the 737 MAX. That’s especially true when it comes to Flydubai. You may recall that Flydubai is essentially the sister airline of Emirates. The grounding of the 737 MAX model has already resulted in tons of lost profit for Flydubai. More than 40 of Flydubai’s planes have been out of commission following the grounding of the 737. That adds up to a lot of canceled flights and tons of inconvenienced passengers.
It’s important to note that all we’re hearing out of the Emirates boss so far is just chatter. No official plans have been announced to scrap pending Boeing orders. What’s more, news hasn’t broken regarding any big Airbus orders being placed by Emirates or Flydubai. CEO Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum does have an idea of how things will go down if and when Emirates decides to cancel its Boeing orders. The CEO has revealed that he would expect to be compensated by Boeing if the airline is forced to cancel orders. Al Maktoum is also calling on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the U.S. government to be very candid when it comes to revealing exactly how the Boeing aircraft is certified.
[Featured Image: Emirates]
Remains to be seen how many airlines follow through on changing orders from Boeing to Airbus. it''s not like AB has all this spare 320 capacity to replace 737 orders. Airlines that do will have a deficit of seats to fulfill growth plans for years as they wait in the AB queue, and higher fuel costs from continued operation of an older fleet. It will come down to economics as always.
The plane is not the problem, it is the software? Guess in a crash it doesn't make much difference. Good luck getting delivery of a Airbus replacement any time soon. My guess this will be a very costly "issue" for Boeing, but likely just a big blip in terms of future sales
boeing needs to scrap the max planes and start building safe reliable planes again. they know how. time for the tail to stop wagging the dog.
"More than 40 of Flydubai’s planes have been out of commission following the grounding of the 737" The 737 isn't grounded...please correct this posting. And from what I can see, they had 14 737MAX in service, not 40.
Last one at Boeing can turns the lights off. Boeing is finished as a supplier for commercial aircraft.