Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr claims his airline has not lost faith in Boeing and is mulling a narrowbody order for over 100 aircraft.
Speaking about Boeing, Spohr told Reuters:
We have not lost our trust in Boeing. They’ve built wonderful aircraft over the decades, and I am sure they will fix the current issue…
Between Boeing and the FAA, I think this country will not rest until you have gone to the ground of what really happened there and is there something to improve.
This comes in the context of Lufthansa’s fleet renewal program. The German carrier plans to retire older Airbus A319 and Bombardier CRJ planes starting next year. To replace them, it is mulling a “six digit” aircraft order between the Boeing 737 MAX and Airbus A320neo.
Now all of this effusive praise for Boeing, of course, could just be a clever negotiating strategy. If Spohr said Lufthansa had no faith in the Boeing 737 program, that would not give Airbus much of an incentive to offer a deal on its A320neos, would it? Lufthansa currently does not have any 737s in its fleet, having retired its final 737-300 in October 2016. Meanwhile, Lufthansa was the launch customer for the Airbus A320neo and has more than 270 A320s already on order for the Lufthansa Group.
But I doubt the 737 MAX is out of the running. The problem will be fixed and Lufthansa has proved a loyal Boeing customer over the years. 787-9s and 777Xs are already on the way.
CONCLUSION
Even though we are are in a time of waiting as crash investigations on the 737 MAX continue, airlines cannot afford to sit on the sidelines and wait. As Lufthansa continues to upgrade and renew its fleet, it does not have the luxury of an extended delay.
image: Lufthansa
Whatever problems exist with the 737MAX will eventually be identified and remedied. That’s how this inevitably works and the current concerns will eventually be forgotten. But with that said, it’s still not a well designed aircraft. It’s an improvisation.
For the first time in my life, I have my doubts about how good Boeings really are anymore.
THE ENGINES ARE TO LOW ABOVE GROUND WILL PICK-UP F.O.D ON RUN WAY.
ENGINES TO HEAVY AND UNBALANCE NOT FIT FOR THIS A/CRAFT.
OVER 60 CRASH SINCE BIRTH NOT MENTIONING CLOSE CALLS (TO MANY).
FROM A MILITARY AERO ENGINEER TECH.
If there were 60 crashes, the plane would not be flying. Use facts, please.
Bravo
No matter what software fix Boeing installs, the fact remains, the Max is a defective plane. I will never risk mine or my families lives on that plane.
DO NOT BUY THIS A/C. THE ENGINES ARE TO LOW ABOVE GROUND.TO HEAVY,UNBALANCE.
WILL PICK UP F.O.B. ON RUN WAY.
There 3 major parts in a plane…
Boeing decided to modify 2 of them, winģs and engines.
By realising that it was increasing seriously the risk of stalling, Boeing decided to develop a software to handle the problem….
That plane would have been much safer if it had not needed to develop the MCAS to try to keep on flying !
This is either totally inept or criminal.. or both
I will never fly with such a plane even with an updated software…
Lufthansa of course has in its back yard the Airbus A320 assembly plant at Hamburg. The pressure to protect German jobs and wider EU jobs will not be small. Equally the A220-300 and the A220-500 if built would make excellent replacements for the Bombardier CRJ. The cost or reintroducing the 737 would be much higher than buying more from Airbus.
They already fly the 737. Look on their website.
They last used the 737 in 2016 as the article already mentions
The odds of LH buying the MAX: probably 1 in a million. Speculation about the demise of Airbus , in the context of the A380 flop, seem way off the mark. Unfortunately some carriers are going to be locked in with the MAX, apparently on the basis of dodgy deals between Boeing and others re certification, because there are no alternatives with good availability.
“ Trust us, we’re Boeing” doesn’t ring true these days.
Bravo