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Boeing Commercial Airplanes president & CEO Stephanie Pope and SMBC Aviation Capital CEO Peter Barrett.
FARNBOROUGH—Aircraft lessor SMBC has placed a firm order for 40 Boeing 737 MAX-8s and 60 737 MAX-10s on the first day of the Farnborough Airshow.
The order, which was announced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes president & CEO Stephanie Pope and SMBC Aviation Capital CEO Peter Barrett, will begin delivering in the early 2030s.
This is the first MAX-10 order placed by SMBC. “We’ve always seen it as a potentially very interesting asset for us to own. Clearly there has been some challenges,” Barrett said. “As we've [moved toward] certification, we feel they are now behind us.”
Barrett is seeing a trend among airlines toward larger aircraft variants. “That’s what our customers need and want,” he said. “We see a lot of potential here for the -10.”
SMBC placed its first 737 order 20 years ago. Pope said SMBC now has MAX commitments covering 450 aircraft owned and on order.
Lessors have ordered more than 1,450 MAXs, representing 20% of the family backlog.
“SMBC becomes not only the newest MAX-10 customer but holds the largest leasing order of MAX-10,” Pope said. “Partnerships like this are very important to our industry.”
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