KUALA LUMPUR: Boeing Co has temporarily halted test flights of its new 737 MAX aircraft due to an issue with the engine, which is jointly made by General Electric Co and Safran SA of France, just as Malindo Air was set to receive the first delivery on Monday.
Reuters reported the grounding comes days before Boeing was due to deliver its first 737 MAX to an airline and marks a high-profile delay in a programme that Boeing had said was ahead of schedule.
It poses no safety concerns for travelers because no airlines are yet flying the 737 MAX but it could mean a costly disruption if the problem persists. Timely delivery is important to planemakers as they get most of the payment for a plane when it is handed to the buyer, the wire report said.
Boeing and engine maker CFM said they do not know how long the delay will last.
Malindo was set to use the jet for its Kuala Lumpur-Singapore route from May 19.
But Malindo CEO Chandran Rama Muthy told Reuters that it does not plan to use the plane until May 22, without elaborating on the reason for the delay.
Malindo Air, which has Malaysian and Indonesian shareholders, was scheduled to use the narrowbody aircraft for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore route later this month.
Malindo Air’s parent company Lion Air has ordered eight 737 Max jetliner, of which four are to join Malindo Air’s fleet.
The 737 MAX replaces an older version of Boeing's best-selling single-aisle aircraft, a key moneymaker for the aerospace company.
The 737 MAX 8, the first version of the plane to be built, seats 162 passengers in a typical two-class configuration. It carries a list price of US$110 million but airlines typically receive steep discounts.
Malaysia Airlines ordered last year 50 737 Max aircraft worth US$5.5bil, but the delivery would only start from 2019. The national airline has also finalised a US$630mil order for CFM’s Leap-1B engines to power 25 of the aircraft.
A delay in getting aircraft to customers likely would cause a build up in Boeing's inventory, "as planes essentially sit waiting for engines," said analyst Rob Stallard at Vertical Research Partners.
"Investors are acutely focused" on the risks of speeding up production of the new engine, known as the LEAP-1B, he was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Separately, Airbus said it was continuing flights with its A320neo, which is powered by the similar LEAP-1A engine and is flying customers.
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