Malaysia Airlines stops taking deliveries of Boeing MAX 737 jets

Malaysia’s national carrier has suspended deliveries of 25 Boeing 737 MAX jets due to the delayed return to service of the aircraft since it was grounded last year after two fatal crashes.

“In view of the production stoppage and the delayed return to service of the 737-MAX, Malaysia Airlines has suspended the delivery of its orders,” the airline said in an email seen by Reuters. It did not disclose when it wanted the deliveries to resume.

“As there is no clarity yet from various authorities on its return to service, our technical due diligence is still ongoing,” Malaysia Airlines said.

The carrier was due to take delivery of its first 737 MAX in July 2020. However, last year Malaysia Airlines’ CEO said the introduction to service could be postponed.

Boeing on Tuesday reported its worst annual net orders in decades, along with its lowest number of plane deliveries in 11 years. The company has also reported a net negative of 183 orders for the 737 MAX in 2019 including cancellations.

In March, the US Federal Aviation Administration ordered the grounding of all 737 MAX models. That followed the lead of countries around the world after the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 killed 157 people. Five months earlier, a 737 MAX of Indonesia’s Lion Air crashed in the same manner, killing 189 passengers and crew.

Since then, almost 400 MAX jets have been stuck on the ground, and Boeing has manufactured 400 more, which it cannot deliver to customers anywhere.

The FAA review is still ongoing, amid a number of revelations suggesting that flaws with the MAX’s control software were long known to the company and its test pilots.

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