Boeing talking with Alaska Airlines on 737 MAX order: report

Boeing is in the midst of talks to sell 737 Max jets to Alaska Airlines, the latest in a series of the company’s negotiations after the plane was banned worldwide in March 2019 following two deadly crashes, Reuters reported Thursday.

Three people familiar with the discussions between Boeing and Alaska Airlines told Reuters that while it was not clear how many jets would be sold, the deal is expected to include significant discounts following the crashes and lowered demand as fewer people are traveling amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

Alaska Airlines had ordered 37 jets from Boeing prior to their grounding, and an additional deal would aid the company amid a financial crisis. 

The company announced in May that it would lay off 6,770 workers across its U.S. facilities and had “several thousand” more cuts planned in the coming months. 

A representative for Boeing on Thursday declined to comment when contacted by The Hill about the reported discussions, and Alaska Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

In August, Boeing announced that it had received its first orders for 737 Max planes since 2019 with a request for two jets from Enter Air, a Polish charter airline. 

Boeing added at the time that it had also finalized a settlement with Enter Air to address the economic fallout from grounding the 737 Max aircraft. 

That same month, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a 36-page report on required changes and training needed before the 737 Max jets can begin flying again. 

Last month, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee published a report following an 18-month investigation into Boeing and the FAA, saying there were “repeated and serious failures by both” throughout “the 737 Max’s design process.”

Reuters reported Thursday that Boeing plans to resume delivery of the jets to airlines in the U.S. by the end of the calendar year.