Delta hints at buying Boeing’s 737 MAX

(Reuters) – Delta Air Lines (NYSE 🙂 CEO Ed Bastian hinted at buying Boeing (NYSE 🙂 Co’s 737 MAX, which was recently approved to fly again by U.S. regulators, in a interview with the Financial Times on Sunday.

“We are talking to Boeing about a lot of different things, including Max,” Delta’s chief executive told the Financial Times.

Any Boeing 737 MAX order would be a first for Delta, which did not have the aircraft in its fleet when the plane was grounded in March 2019 following two fatalities.

“If there was an opportunity where we would feel comfortable acquiring the MAX, we would not hesitate to do so,” added Bastian.

Reuters reported in October that Delta was among the airlines that Boeing approached to buy dozens of 737 MAX jets built for customers who have since scrapped their orders or gone bankrupt, citing two people familiar with the matter.

The U.S. lifted a 20-month flight ban on the Boeing 737 MAX on Wednesday, easing a safety crisis that left its main exporter with a tarnished reputation and hundreds of jets inactive.

Bastian also expressed doubts about the travel corridor between New York and London as “complicated” and said it would be easier to relaunch transatlantic flights to “any” other European capital.

Major airlines want the US and UK governments to launch a coronavirus test trial for passengers flying between London and New York to pave the way for the resumption of more international travel.