In a new chapter of the bitter political battle between the United States and China, Boeing announced that it will begin selling some of the 737 MAXs it built for its customers in China and cannot deliver due to delays in the recertification of the model by the Chinese aviation authority.
Both CEO Dave Calhoun and CFO Brian West agreed that there is no room to continue to wait for a decision from the CAAC, while aircraft are piling up in storage and money for deliveries is still not coming in.
Calhoun said today at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Aerospace Summit that “Someday we’ll get back to China. But it’s not going to be anytime soon.” West, meanwhile, spoke at a conference organized by Morgan Stanley and said, “We put off decisions on these planes for a long time. We can’t keep putting them off forever.”
Calhoun added that the process of reselling these aircraft will be gradual, to “protect Chinese customers,” but that “we can’t keep waiting.”
For COMAC, crisis is opportunity
China is an extremely important market for the global airline industry. The domestic market is one of the largest in the world and both Airbus and Boeing have been fighting for years to dominate the segment of short- and medium-haul aircraft with more than 150 seats.
The crisis of confidence in the 737 MAX is just one – now minor – seasoning in a situation that includes the geopolitical tension between the United States and China, the rarefied climate of the Taiwan issue and even the arrival of an indigenous competitor, although it does not seem to be up to the task of this generation of aircraft.
The COMAC C919, which is expected to be finally certified next Monday, seeks to present itself as a replacement alternative to the 737 NG and Airbus A320ceo. There is still a significant qualitative gap to cover before it can rival the MAX and neo families, but if the CAAC’s decision continues to be delayed, it would not be unusual for airlines to have no choice but to go for local credit.
Non-certification of the 737 MAX would give COMAC an unexpected endorsement, as even with a captive market the two western manufacturers largely dominate the operators’ future fleet portfolio.
