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- Boeing secured an order for 35 of its 737 Max jets from Aviation Capital Group.
- It's a boost for the firm's troubled jet that faces delays in production and certification.
- However, customers have been warned of further delays to Max deliveries, Bloomberg reported.
Boeing secured a notable 737 Max order, but delays to the flagship narrowbody jet appear to be getting worse.
Aviation Capital Group, the aircraft leasing unit of Japanese leasing firm Tokyo Century Corp, has ordered 35 Boeing 737 Max jets, it announced Friday.
The order includes 16 of the Max 8 and 19 of the Max 10, which is yet to be certified.
It's encouraging news for Boeing, particularly given recent problems involving the Max. On Sunday, the Justice Department said Boeing had agreed to plead guilty to a charge of fraud conspiracy in relation to two Max 8 crashes in 2018 and 2019, which killed 346 people.
The aircraft's reputation was further hampered by January's Alaska Airlines blowout when a Max 9's door plug came off in midair. Boeing's share price has since fallen more than 25%.
The 737 Max 10 — the largest version of the jet — has also faced controversy of its own due to certification delays.
In the wake of January's blowout, the CEO of United Airlines — Boeing's biggest customer — said he would build an "alternative plan" without the Max 10 due to its frustrations with the delay. The carrier's chief financial officer later said its order for 277 such planes would be replaced by Max 9 and Airbus A321neo jets.
In Friday's statement, Tokyo Century Corp said it expected its Max jets to be delivered in 2031.
As a result of the Alaska Airlines incident, the Federal Aviation Administration is preventing Boeing from expanding production of the Max until it's satisfied with its quality-control processes. Capped at 38 a month, customers have voiced frustrations with the slow pace of deliveries.
In recent weeks, Boeing has told customers with deliveries scheduled for 2025 and 2026 that they face additional delays, Bloomberg reported. The report added that delays could be between three and six months.
The low-cost carrier Norwegian Air also said Friday that it expected reduced capacity growth this year, "due to aircraft delivery delays from Boeing."
Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider.
The news comes just 10 days before the start of the Farnborough Airshow, the sector's biggest event of the year. Several substantial plane orders are expected to be announced at the show, and Boeing previously confirmed that it wouldn't exhibit any of its airliners.