The battle for multi-billion-dollar orders is about to start. Is the Boeing 737MAX ready?

　　Author: Feng Di Van

　　After being banned from flying around the world for two years, are the Boeing 737 MAX models ready to return to the blue sky?

　　The new crown pneumonia epidemic has also affected the price of aircraft.

Qantas ("Qantas") CEO Alan Joyce publicly stated at an Australian business summit recently: "Because the price is so wonderful, now is the time to place an order for the aircraft."

　　"We know that aircraft prices are very attractive now, so in a period of time, there is a chance to get very low prices." He said that Qantas has a domestic fleet renewal plan.

According to the plan, Qantas’ current Boeing 737-800 main jetliner may be replaced by a new fleet of Airbus A320neo series or Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.

This also means that Boeing and Airbus are about to compete for this multi-billion-dollar order.

　　However, after being banned from flying around the world for two years, are the Boeing 737MAX models ready to return to the blue sky?

　　Convincing passengers is a problem

　　Qantas' domestic narrow-body fleet has a tradition of operating Boeing 737 models.

Since 1993, almost every Australian traveling abroad has boarded a Qantas Boeing 737 airliner, and its main aircraft is currently the Boeing 737-800.

　　Due to a fatal crash, the Boeing 737MAX was banned from flying by various countries nearly two years ago.

In November 2020, after being grounded for 20 months, the Boeing 737 MAX was officially approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for a go-around.

As of March 2021, Australia, Brazil, Canada, the European Union, and the United Kingdom have approved the Boeing 737MAX to go back and forth.

　　However, despite the Australian aviation regulator's statement that it can return the Boeing 737MAX to the blue sky, for airlines operating the aircraft, persuading passengers to take the aircraft has become the next problem.

　　Recently, Emirates President Tim Clark has rarely criticized Boeing publicly in an interview with professional media in the aviation industry. This is also the first criticism of Boeing by a major Boeing customer since the Boeing 737MAX accident.

He said that Boeing still has systemic problems.

　　Emirates is Boeing's largest customer, currently operating 133 Boeing 777 passenger aircraft, and its sister airline FlyDubai is the second largest buyer of Boeing 737Max models.

　　Clark said that Boeing should address its internal issues, that is, pay more attention to shareholder returns and their impact on the cooperative decision-making of senior management and directors.

He believes that this has seriously affected Boeing's corporate culture and is the root cause of the quality problems of 737MAX models.

　　Clark said that around 2000, Boeing was under financial pressure. Under shareholder pressure, it needed to pursue profits and therefore sought to reduce costs.

At the same time, the pursuit of bonuses and bonus culture has also dominated the company's thinking and distorted the decisions of the company's top executives.

　　He recalled that when building a certain model, due to the pressure to cut costs, many suppliers cooperating with Boeing complained, "We really can't reduce the price anymore, the floor price is already."

On the other hand, Boeing asked them to cut prices by 15% to 20%.

　　"But by the way, I didn't see the plane and also reduced the price." Clark said, "This is the kind of culture I was talking about. At that time, I started to think that I must be more cautious. Cut the cost of the supply chain to the minimum, and quality problems will follow. The parts you get will not be so suitable."

　　Regarding whether the above situation can be changed after the current Boeing executives change, Clark said that only time will tell everything. He hopes that what happened to the Boeing 737MAX can tell Boeing: their previous practices were incorrect, but if they think they can pass something Appearance changes can make everything disappear, so this is not feasible.

　　Battle for billions of dollars in orders

　　Qantas Group has ordered 109 Airbus aircraft, including 45 A320neo and 64 A321neo, most of which will be distributed to Qantas' long-term Airbus low-cost carrier Jetstar after delivery.

　　However, Joyce also said: “A decision will be made towards the delivery time to determine which departments in the group will use these aircraft, but Qantas and Jetstar will most likely use them.”

　　"We will also study whether they can be used to replace old aircraft, which will depend on market conditions." Joyce said, "we must replace the domestic fleet within the next ten years."

　　As mentioned earlier, this means that Boeing and Airbus will start a battle for multi-billion-dollar orders.

　　If Airbus can beat Boeing to win the order, it will be a major victory.

In the past 28 years, Qantas' domestic main aircraft type has been Boeing 737.

Taking into account the existing A320neo orders of Qantas Group and the Airbus A350-1000 it plans to purchase, Airbus may also offer substantial discounts.

　　Qantas also knows that its rival Virgin Australia has now selected the Boeing 737 MAX as its future fleet.

However, many passengers are uneasy about this. If they buy A320neo to build their domestic fleet, it can attract those anxious passengers who do not want to fly on Virgin Australia in the next few years.

　　Boeing certainly hopes that Qantas, which has a high reputation for safety in the industry, can place an order for the Boeing 737 MAX.

In addition to the Boeing 737 aircraft of Qantas' main fleet, its regional route Qantas Link is still using Boeing 717-200 aircraft, and Airbus also hopes that the A220 can replace it.

　　At the end of 2019, an Airbus A220 plane landed in Sydney. Joyce and other executives experienced the flight in person and felt quite good.

"It looks like a very good aircraft, very quiet, I think passengers will like it." Joyce said after the test flight: "This is a good alternative to the Boeing 717: the configuration is not Too similar, but with more luggage space on the top, more space in the cabin, and even a large toilet."

　　However, Joyce believes that Airbus's price range for such aircraft, which is between US$81 million and US$91.5 million, is still too high.

"For us to buy it, it must be cheaper than the current price." He said.