Flydubai could opt for Airbus jets if Boeing MAX grounding prolonged

Flydubai’s chairman warned on Monday the airline could order Airbus A320neos as replacements for Boeing 737 MAX jets, telling the U.S. planemaker to improve communication with customers.

The 737 MAX has been grounded after an Ethiopian Airlines jet crashed in March and a LionAir jet crashed last October, killing a total of 346 people.

The Middle East carrier operates a fleet of only 737 aircraft and is one of the largest MAX operators having ordered 250 of the new model narrow-body jets.

Flydubai has had to ground its 14 MAX jets, accounting for roughly 10 per cent of its fleet, and cancel up to 15 flights a day.

“That gave me an option to talk to Airbus,” Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum told reporters at the Arabian Travel Market exhibition in Dubai.

“You have to understand that we do not have a definite date on when this (MAX) aircraft will be flying.”

Flydubai said in March the MAX was integral to its future.

Other airlines have weighed their options since the grounding. A decision from Saudi Arabian budget carrier flyadeal on whether to proceed with an existing order for 30 MAX jets is imminent, its chief executive said on Sunday.

Flydubai potentially swapping any or part of its order comes as the world’s largest planemaker faces one of the biggest crises in its 103-year history.

Boeing, which holds its annual meeting in Chicago on Monday, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Flydubai is the second biggest MAX customer and last committed to Boeing’s best selling jet in 2017 with an order worth $27 billion including purchasing options.

Sheikh Ahmed, who is also the Emirates chairman, said flydubai would act within its contract terms with Boeing but would not would not allow anything to stop the airline’s growth.

He did not say when flydubai would decide on whether it pursues a replacement order with Airbus.

Sheikh Ahmed also said that Boeing’s communication with customer over the grounding and how it plans to recertify the plane “could be better.”

Boeing has said it is developing a software fix and new pilot training for regulatory approval in order to get the company’s best-selling plane recertified.

Sheikh Ahmed said more needed to be known about those fixes and the how long the plane grounding will last. He said flydubai would seek compensation from Boeing.

“I have to ask it. It is my right. I didn’t ground those 14 aircraft,” he said.