Ethiopian Airlines is reconsidering its order for 25 additional 737
Max jetliners from Boeing, partly because of the “stigma’’ surrounding
the aircraft involved in two fatal air disasters in five months — one of
them an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
Tewolde GebreMariam, the state-owned carrier’s CEO, spoke a
day
after Ethiopian officials released a preliminary report on the accident
that killed 157 people in March shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa
and concluded it suffered the same equipment failure as a Lion Air 737
that crashed off Indonesia in October.
“We may reach the decision [to cancel the order]. We just had a very
tragic accident a few weeks ago, and customers still have the accident
in their mind. So it will be a hard sell for us to convince our
customers,’’ he said.
Ethiopian will not take delivery of its remaining 25 ordered 737 Max
aircraft right now, or perhaps at all, Tewolde said. A decision on the
737 Max purchases will come after Boeing offers a software fix to a
system implicated in both crashes and seeing what regulators and other
airlines do, he said.
“Our situation is quite different from the others, because we are the
victim,’’ Tewolde said. “You can imagine the stigma that will be
attached with the airplane.”
He said the airline will need to convince pilots and customers before resuming use of the aircraft.
Ethiopian has ordered 30 of the 737 Max jets and taken delivery of
five, including the jetliner that crashed soon after taking off from
Addis Ababa, Tewolde said. The aircraft, Boeing’s best-seller, is
grounded worldwide.
In both flights, a system was active that can automatically force the
aircraft’s nose down. Boeing has said it is devising a software fix to
avert deadly plunges by the jet.
GebreMariam said the airline will listen to aviation regulators
around the world, in addition to the US Federal Aviation Administration,
as it considers resuming 737 Max flights.
“We are part of the global airline community, waiting for the fix,
and waiting for the fix to be certified by FAA and also the other
regulators” including those in Europe, China and Canada, GebreMariam
said.
Ethiopian Airlines, founded more than half a century ago under former
emperor Haile Selassie, has expanded beyond its home market with a hub
model that pulls in passengers from around the world to Addis Ababa and
sends them onward to cities across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Ethiopian operates 102 passenger aircraft, most of them various
Boeing models, including 10 of the 737-700NG version, according to a
summary provided by the carrier.
The strategy has made Ethiopian the continent’s biggest airline and
its only consistently profitable one, a beacon of corporate
free-thinking in a region where flag carriers are often government
playthings. That’s despite being 100% owned by the Ethiopian state.
Several big Boeing customers have threatened to reconsider their 737
Max purchases in recent weeks, jeopardising the $600bn-plus order book
for the aircraft.
VietJet Aviation, which doubled its order to about $25bn in February,
said it will decide on its future plans once the cause of the tragedy
has been found.
Kenya Airways is reviewing proposals to buy the Max and could switch
to Airbus SE’s rival A320. Russia’s Utair Aviation is seeking
guarantees before taking delivery of the first of 30 aircraft.
Also since the crash, Airbus SE secured a $35bn jet deal from China.
If Ethiopian Airlines declines additional Max jets, it may instead seek
another model, the 737 NG, Tewolde said. Sticking with the 737 line
would save on training, maintenance and spare parts, he said.
Asked whether he envisioned purchases or leases, he said details would need to be worked out with Boeing.
“We will have to do it together,’’ Tewolde said. “It takes two to
tango. So we are in a challenging time together on this issue. So we can
only solve the problem together, as partners.’’
Travel season
Tewolde said the airline may need more capacity by the busy summer travel season.
“How long can we wait? I think that’s a big question,” he said.
“Hopefully it will be fast enough before the summer peak kicks in,
otherwise we will be forced to look for alternatives.”
Tewolde described Ethiopian Airlines’ relationship with Chicago-based Boeing as “still very good” and “very cordial”.
“This is a relationship that has passed the test of time for more than 60 years,” Tewolde said.
The airline took delivery of Boeing aircraft beginning in 1962,
according to the carrier’s website. The company announced in 2014 an
order for 20,737 MAX 8s it said were worth more than $2.1bn at list
prices. The deal included options and purchase rights for a further 15
737 MAX 8s, the airline said.
It said the order was the largest single Boeing order by number of aircraft from an African carrier.
- Bloomberg
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