Hopes To Compete With New Bombardier Airliners

Boeing is reportedly considering a 150 seat version of its new 737 MAX airplane in light of competition from Bombardier's CSeries airliners.

The Wall Street Journal reports that according to its sources, the airplane, which for now the company is calling the 737 MAX 7X, would have a significantly longer range and carry more passengers than the 126-seat model currently in development.

The 737 MAX 7X is a response to the orders that are coming in to Bombardier for its CSeries airliners. Faced with competition from the Canadian planemaker, Boeing offered steep discounts to United Airlines on the 737 MAX in to win its business. Delta, meanwhile, is expected to announce that it is closing a deal with Bombardier for as many as 125 CSeries airliners later this month.

Boeing would need buy-in from United, which recently placed an order for 45 current 737 airplanes, and Southwest, which will be the launch customer for the 737 MAX. So far, according to the report, Boeing has only 60 orders for the smallest version of its re-engined airliner.

Boeing declined to comment for the report citing company policy.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.boeing.com