United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby reportedly revealed Tuesday the carrier has asked Boeing to halt production of the 737 Max 10s the airline ordered, and to build Max 9s instead after an extended delay.
"We’ve asked Boeing to stop building Max 10s, which they’ve done, for us and start building Max 9s," Kirby said Tuesday at a JPMorgan investor conference, according to Bloomberg. "It’s impossible to say when the Max 10 is going to get certified."
"We are in the market for A321s, and if we get a deal where the economics work, we’ll do something," Kirby said, referring to the Airbus jetliner, confirming earlier reports. "If we don’t, we won’t and will wind up with more Max 9s."
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Kirby said in January that United thought Boeing was "not going to be able to meet their contractual obligations on at least many" of the 737 Max 10 planes ordered by the airline. United’s order included 277 of the aircraft along with "an additional 200 auctions for Max 10 aircraft."
Boeing has faced increased scrutiny following a Jan. 5 incident in which a door plug blew off a 737 Max 9 plane mid-flight, sparking fresh concerns about the certification of the already delayed MAX 10 model.
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The Max 10 is pending certification by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), but that process has been delayed indefinitely.
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Also on Tuesday, Reuters reported Boeing announced internally it is adding weekly compliance checks for every 737 work area and additional audits of equipment to reduce quality problems, after a six-week audit of Boeing's 737 Max manufacturing processes by the FAA faulted numerous company processes.
FOX Business' Aislinn Murphy and Reuters contributed to this report.
