Boeing recently delivered 737 Max aircraft ahead of schedule to Panama’s Copa Airlines, another positive sign for Boeing’s long-beleaguered narrowbody programme.
Copa, an all-Boeing operator, took delivery of three 737 Max 8s during the second quarter, for a total of six of the latest-generation narrowbodies. It expects another 10 Max aircraft through year-end.
Chief executive Pedro Heilbron described recent dealings with the US airframer as encouraging during Copa’s earnings call on 7 August.
”Everything has come a week or two ahead of schedule,” he says. “They’re delivering on time this year.”
Copa received a revised delivery schedule from Boeing earlier this year, which called for Boeing to hand over two more Max jets in 2025 than originally forecast – for a total of 13 expected 737 deliveries.
The carrier has been advised by Boeing to expect only six Max jets in 2026.
Heilbron maintained in February that Copa is “perfectly fine” with the new delivery schedule, based on the opportunities for new routes and increased frequencies.
Though Copa has not yet released financial guidance for 2026, it now expects year-on-year capacity growth for the full year of 2026, partially based on the aircraft due for delivery this year and next.
“[Capacity] will be trending a little bit higher than this year,” Heilbron says.
At the end of the second quarter, Copa operated 115 jets, including 67 737-800s, nine 737-700s, 32 Max 9s and one 737-800 freighter.
Earlier this week, Allegiant Air shared during its earnings call that Boeing has been delivering 737 Max 8-200s in a more timely manner than anticipated. Drew Wells, Allegiant’s chief commercial officer, said during that “Boeing has exceeded our expectations on aircraft deliveries throughout this year”.
The comments suggest greater customer satisfaction with the pace of Boeing’s narrowbody deliveries. Major global carriers have recently noted that Boeing’s widebody deliveries are still lagging behind.
A lack of large aircraft is pervasive across the industry as Airbus and Boeing have struggled to meet production targets in recent years, with frequent delivery delays.
Boeing has until recently struggled to gain positive momentum with its 737 programme, with certification of both the Max 7 and Max 10 still elusive and 737 sales falling further behind those of Airbus A320neo-family jets.
Certification of the Max 10 is considered especially critical to Boeing’s hopes of stepping up competition with Airbus, as it will compete against the A321XLR, a longer-range variant of the A321neo.
A pair of major setbacks tripped up 737 deliveries last year, with effects felt by airlines worldwide.
First, most of the global Max 9 fleet was grounded following the door-plug blow-out on an Alaska Airlines-operated 737 Max 9 in January, an event traced to work in Boeing’s Renton factory.
That incident kept Copa’s 737 Max 9 fleet out of service for about a month, digging into the airline’s profits in the first quarter of 2024.
Late last year, a machinists’ strike involving some 33,000 workers halted Seattle-area commercial aircraft production, causing further aircraft delivery delays for Boeing customers.
But Boeing is reportedly gathering momentum on its 737 programme, accelerating monthly Max deliveries in June to a pace not achieved since late 2023.
