On the day the Boeing 737 MAX starts re-certification flights in the U.S., low-cost airline Norwegian cancels an order for 92 Boeing 737 MAX and five Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, the airline reported yesterday. Norwegian also wants compensation from Boeing for the problems arising from the MAX grounding and the 787 Rolls-Royce engines.
Norwegian was already in a difficult financial situation before the coronavirus crisis. The airlines had to cancel several intercontinental routes. The worldwide grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX since 12 March last year created additional costs. In addition, Norwegian’s Rolls-Royce Trent 1000-powered 787 aircraft have suffered from long-running reliability issues that have affected reliability and resulted in premature and unplanned maintenance, which has disrupted the Company’s operations and caused further significant losses.
Norwegian has engaged in a commercial dialogue with Boeing about financial compensation for the problems with the MAX and the Dreamliners for a long time. The dialogue has yet to date not led to an agreement with a reasonable compensation to the Company.
However, the airline managed to get a lifeline package from the Norwegian government to survive the corona crisis.
