The first order was put on the books in 2013 and confirmed in 2015. Boeing will be delivering the first of these planes to Jet Airways this year in the second half of the year. Jet Airways placed a second follow-up order at the end of last fiscal, for another 75 planes, hence making an order backlog of 150 aircraft with Boeing.
Jet Airways will be the first Indian customer to receive the 737MAX. The 737 is Boeing’s best selling aircraft, and they recently made a world record delivering the 10000th However, to Southwest.
Jet Airways plans to use these planes to replace some of their earlier planes still in service, and over a period also for new routes which an aircraft like this could open up. For instance, there is chatter about the airline exploring opening routes such as Bangalore to Hong Kong and Mumbai to Nairobi with this aircraft.
But in a market with competition ordering 400 aircraft, you can’t help but keep expanding to keep up in the battle for market share, or just protect your turf. So, as per Bloomberg, who met Mr. Naresh Goyal while he was in Manchester to launch the new route between Mumbai and Manchester, there is a third order coming.
Jet Airways India Ltd. is closing in on a new order for Boeing Co.’s 737 Max single-aisle plane that could take its commitments for the model above 200 aircraft.
India’s biggest full-service airline is in talks over the purchase and may make an announcement in coming weeks, Chairman Naresh Goyal said in an interview Friday. He didn’t specify how many planes the company aims to buy, though Jet’s previous two orders for the model have been for 75 aircraft apiece.
While the existing contracts have been for the smallest Max 8 variant of Boeing’s re-engined workhorse, Jet has the ability to upscale to the Max 9 or 10 and the new deal will have the same flexibility, Goyal said in Manchester, England, after announcing his company’s first flights to the city.
For the record, SpiceJet has over 200 Boeing 737MAX aircraft already on order.
We already have some inkling of what the Jet Airways 737MAX would look like, but will have to wait for a little more to see them in action. The delivery of the first plane has recently been delayed from June to July 2018, as per media reports. There may be an opportunity for Jet Airways to change the MAX8 to MAX9 or MAX10 in the years ahead as well.
Bottomline
It seems Jet Airways has finally found their mojo under Vinay Dube, working to expand their presence in India and abroad, rather than playing second fiddle to another airline. It will be good to see a new plane in the fleet, which promises better passenger experience for the passengers and better economics for the airline in the coming days.
Are you looking forward to the new aircraft induction bt Jet Airways?
desperately need a new J hard product (or at least an update = better screens etc) on the wide bodies. Just a fabric reupholster is not enough!). Ideally they need to get one or two 787s for long haul as well. That has of course gone on the back burner considering Dube’s previous interview.
@VK apparently when they redo the 777 and remove the F class, a new product will emerge.
by then the planes will be over 15 yrs old. time for a few shiny new ones don’t you think!
If they can make the interiors look like that of a new aircraft then age does not matter. For example if you board a Qantas 747 you’ll feel like the aircraft is less than five years old which it isn’t .