Despite the fact that there seems to be no end in sight for the Boeing groundings, Southwest Airlines is staying loyal to the brand and has no plans to cancel or alter their orders for hundreds more Boeing 737 Max aircraft.
Chairman and Chief Executive of Southwest Airlines Gary Kelly spoke on this at a North Dallas Chamber of Commerce event on Thursday afternoon.
"Obviously, at this point in time, we don't have any plans to change there," Kelly said. "But like anyone, we'll have to constantly evaluate what's available in the marketplace. And we've been a Boeing customer all these years, and I think chances are we'll continue to be a Boeing customer."
He added, "It's a very good airplane, but Boeing has acknowledged that they've got some things they need to address with the software in that airplane."
"It seems like it's a relatively straight-forward modification. We're obviously anxious to get the airplane back in service."
While Kelly seems pretty confident, Southwest and their Dallas-neighbor American Airlines are having to cancel hundreds of flights every day for June, July and even parts of August because the 737 MAX 8 are out of service. In their first quarter of revenue, Southwest lost about $150 million which can be attributed in some part to the groundings.
When asked if Southwest will follow Norwegian Air's suit and press Boeing to cover some of those losses, Kelly didn't make it sound like Southwest would.
He said, "There are definitely significant damages. I think it's a little premature to say exactly how we'll proceed, but we've had a wonderful partnership, if you will, with Boeing Co."
"Boeing is one of America's great companies going back over a century," he added, "so I have every reason to believe that they'll continue to be a good partner for Southwest."
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