Aeromexico reports MXN$200 million loss over stranded 737 MAX airplanes

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Mexico’s leading flag carrier airline Aeromexico has indicated that it lost MXN$200 million last march over the temporary suspension of six Boeing 737 MAX airplanes .

In a conference with analysts, Andrés Conesa, the company’s CEO , explained that due to the suspension of Boeing 737 MAX 8 and 9 operations throughout the Mexican territory, the airline was forced to use two 737 and 700 airplanes that had been on the ground since the month of January, besides optimizing the rest of the fleet.

Aeromexico has not considered operating 737 MAX airplanes in April or May, since the company has estimated that the airplanes will not be available for use until the first week of June.

Everything hinges on whether the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration will approve recent updates to the model’s software and whether the update will be approved by the country’s General Civil Aviation Authority .

Conesa added that the airline had an open sales order for seven 737 MAX airplanes: Four 737 MAX 8 planes and three 737 MAX 9 planes, which will be delivered before the end of the year.

With the delivery of seven additional aircrafts, Aeromexico’s entire fleet of 737 MAX airplanes will be of 13.

“If the 737 MAX airplanes are not fully operational by June, our capacity throughout the year will be a negative one,” he stated.

During the first quarter of the year, the airline’s capacity in terms of available seat kilometers (ASK) showed a 3% decrease as a result of a capacity reduction to cities such as Boston, Washington, and Portland .

To this was added the impact of the temporary suspension of Boeing 737 MAX 8 airplanes earlier this year. During the first quarter, the company’s revenues rose to MXN$16.36 billion , which represented a 0.5% increase as compared with the same period the previous year.

Meanwhile, the airline’s net loss as a result of the suspension was of MXN$271 million during the same period.

Aeromexico said it would work with Delta airlines in order to optimize its capacity across the Mexico-U.S. border during the second quarter of the year.