Delta Is Considering 737 MAX Purchase

Could Delta Air Lines add the controversial Boeing 737 MAX to its fleet?

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said he sees a “place” for the Boeing 737 Max, according to Airline Weekly, as the carrier looks for opportunistic deals to reshape its fleet over the next decade. This would be Delta’s first major Boeing order in a decade.

“No news to report [but] we’re constantly talking to [Boeing],” Bastian told pilots in a webinar last week. “There’s certainly a place for [the Max] if we can figure out how to bring them in.”

Bastian expressed some surprise that Boeing and Delta had not yet reached a deal for the jets, and likely that they haven’t done business together in 10 years.

Delta declined further comment.

Delta is the only one of the big four carriers — American Airlines, Delta, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines — without either the MAX in its fleet or on order.

The Federal Aviation Administration recertified the MAX last November after the plane was grounded for almost two years following two separate crashes that killed more than 500 passengers and crew.

Separately, Delta said last week it has banned more than 1,600 people from flying with the airline since June of 2020, when the federal government issued its mask mandate.

Delta made the revelation when it appealed to other airlines and the FAA to share a ‘no fly’ list of banned passengers to better coordinate against unruly fliers.

“A list of banned customers doesn’t work as well if that customer can fly with another airline,” said a memo reviewed by CBS News that was sent to flight attendants last week.

The FAA said earlier this week that it had received 4,385 reports from airlines this year about unruly passengers, including 3,199 reports involving passengers refusing to comply with federal mask requirements. Those requirements will be in place until January, the Transportation Security Administration announced last month.