Ethiopian Airlines sceptical over taking delivery of remaining B737 MAX orders

November 18, 2019: Ethiopian Airlines has not finalised the decision on taking more deliveries of the B737 MAX, the jet grounded worldwide in the wake of crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia, said Tewolde Gebremariam, the airlines' group CEO, as Boeing completes revision to the aircraft’s design.

As reported by Bloomberg on whether he supported changes to software and training being finalised by Boeing, Gebremariam stated at the Dubai Airshow, “It is still work in progress. We will have to see it completed and the result of the further tests that are still to come.”

Earlier in March this year, the crash of B737 MAX of Ethiopian and Lion Air accident in Indonesia, killed a total of 346 people. Further, suggesting an automated system erroneously pointed the planes’ noses down repeatedly after take-off.

Asked whether Ethiopian Airlines would take any further deliveries of 20 B737 MAX, which is on order, he said, “We have not yet decided.”

He said the airline had no reservations about signing a new deal to enhance the 787 with Boeing, which was “more than 100 years old and a high-quality engineering company.”

He also revealed that Ethiopian Airlines might add further orders for the A350, a rival to the B787. “We have an order of 24, so depending on the market need, we will increase.”

He refused to comment on acquiring a stake in debt-strapped South African Airways.

Meanwhile, Ethiopian Airlines’ continues to grow its fleet with the addition of Bombardier Q400 aircraft, which is performing its ferry flight from Canada to Addis Ababa. 

In another development, Ethiopian Airlines which operates two daily flights between Addis Ababa and Tel Aviv has unveiled the name of its new B787-9 aircraft as 'Tel Aviv' upon arrival at Ben-Gurion International Airport in an official ceremony.