All-Boeing operator Copa Airlines anticipates taking 13 737 Max jets this year – two more than it had previously expected – under a revised delivery schedule from the US airframer.
The carrier has been advised by Boeing to expect only six 737 Max jets in 2026.
The revised figures were disclosed by Copa chief executive Pedro Heilbron during the company’s 13 February earnings call. Heilbron maintains that Copa is “perfectly fine” with the new delivery schedule, based on the opportunities it sees for new routes and increased frequencies.
Notably, Copa holds unfilled orders for four Max 8s and 15 Max 10s – suggesting that Boeing believes it will be delivering some of its yet-to-be certificated Max 10s to customers in the year’s second half.
Max 7 and Max 10 certification has been long-delayed as the Federal Aviation Administration has dialled up scrutiny of the programmes following the 2018 and 2019 Max crashes that killed 364 people combined.
Last month, Boeing disclosed it is seeking another regulatory exemption from the Federal Aviation Administration, this time relating to a stall-management yaw damper system.
Amid ongoing fleet-growth constraints – and despite the grounding of its entire Max 9 fleet early last year – Panama City-based Copa posted a $609 million profit for the full year of 2024, up more than 18% from its prior-year profit of $514 million.
