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Copa Airlines Boeing 737-9
RIO DE JANEIRO—Fresh from placing an order with Boeing for 40 additional 737 MAX narrowbodies, Copa Airlines is evaluating the specific composition of that orderbook ahead of deliveries beginning in 2030, including the 737-10.
Copa CEO Pedro Heilbron told Aviation Week on the sidelines of the IATA AGM that the Panama-based airline is looking at the -8/9/10 models, explaining it’s “something we are working on right now, working with Boeing, working with our planning team. We have all options open.” Copa placed the order, which includes 20 options, in April.
Copa placed an order for 15 737-10s at the Paris Air Show in 2017 that remains in the carrier’s orderbook, according to the Aviation Week Fleet Discovery database. But in 2022, the company’s then-CFO Jose Montero explained, “the MAX 10s are not yet in the pipeline for this year and next. So, it’s still some time left before we receive them ... We have a lot of flexibility in terms of the subtypes that we have within the order,” noting Copa could switch its 737-10s to other types of the MAX narrowbody.
“In our order, we can make it any one of the MAX models,” Heilbron said in Rio de Janeiro, adding “we have all options open ... it might end up being a combination of all three models.”
In addition to the -10 orders, Copa has an orderbook for 31 737-8s and 33 737-9s, according to Fleet Discovery.
Noting deliveries in the latest order span from 2030 to 2034 Heilbron added, “We still have some time to make up our minds.”
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford recently stated he believes the 737-7 would be certified by year-end followed by the -10. Regarding a decision about the composition of the recent orders, and its intention for the 737-10, Heilbron explained that Copa has a window to inform Boeing in a number of months or years ahead.
Copa is taking delivery of eight 737 MAX aircraft this year, five fewer than the 13 narrowbodies that joined its fleet in 2025. The company ended the first quarter with a fleet of 127 all-Boeing jets and accepted delivery of two additional aircraft in April. The company operates a mix of 737-8/9s, 737-700s/800s, and two 737-800Fs.
Heilbron said Copa’s aircraft deliveries in 2025 and this year have been on time.
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