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Norwegian leapfrogs Southwest as first 737 Max operator
Norwegian leapfrogs Southwest as first 737 Max operator
Five new planes you
may fly in soon
Norwegian Air Shuttle said that it will be the first to take delivery
of Boeing's new 737 Max airliner, jumping ahead of Southwest Airlines, the
carrier confirmed Thursday.
Being the first to
take possession of the new jetliner is a sign of the fast-growing carrier's
increasing stature among the world's airlines.
"Norwegian will
now be the first airline to take delivery of the Boeing (BA) 737
Max and we will be the first airline in the world to operate this brand-new
aircraft type," an airline spokesman said in an email.
Norwegian said it
will take delivery of the first of its Max jets in May and "then it will
take a little time before it enters operation," the spokesman added. The
airline has ordered 100 of the jets.
But being the first
comes with added challenges, as the first operator typically works out the
early kinks of a new design. When Norwegian first took its 787 Dreamliner in
2013, its early operations were repeatedly disrupted by reliability issues with
the advanced long-range airliner.
Norwegian plans to use the single-aisle 737 Max, with its increased
range, to fly between Europe and smaller cities in the U.S. The low-cost
airline's long-haul operations from Europe are flown today with larger 787
Dreamliners.
A
rendering of Norwegian Air Shuttle's soon-to-be-delivered 737 Max jetliner.
The airline has been
at the center of a fierce controversy with U.S. airlines and their labor unions
over the Department of Transportation's approval of the carrier's ability to
fly from Ireland to the U.S.. The unions claim Norwegian will undercut
wages for U.S.-based pilots and cabin crews or hire less expensive non-U.S.
crews while flying to America.
Southwest Airlines (LUV) was
the first carrier to place a firm order for Boeing's updated single-aisle jet
back in December 2011 and has long been expected to take the first jet from the
plane maker. Southwest said Thursday that it won't take its first Max until
July and it will start flying passengers on October 1.
Boeing's chief
executive Dennis Muilenburg said Wednesday that the Max, which has been in
testing since January 2016, will deliver during the second quarter, but did not
say which airline would take the first jet.
Southwest has faced
obstacles getting the Max into its fleet, first facing a now-settled labor
dispute with its pilots over pay on the aircraft and the compatibility of the
fourth generation aircraft into its all-Boeing 737 fleet.
Southwest is the
largest operator of 737 jets in the world, and was the first airline the last
time Boeing introduced a new generation of its workhorse airliner in 1997.
Boeing holds orders
for more than 3,400 737 Max jets, which feature a pair of new engines and
aerodynamic updates to cut fuel consumption by 14%.
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