THIS WON’T FLY

China’s Biggest Airlines Demand Compensation for Boeing 737 Max Groundings

Boeing has already taken a financial pummelling from the groundings—but things could now get significantly worse.

Boeing already announced that the global grounding of its 737 Max aircraft was going to cost it more than $1 billion—but things look like they could get much, much worse for the company. China’s three biggest airlines have united to demand compensation from Boeing to make up for losses caused by the grounding and delayed deliveries of 737 MAX jets. Air China, China Southern Airlines, and China Eastern Airlines laid out their demands to Boeing in statements released Wednesday. “China has grounded 96 aircraft, which is about 4 percent of its airplanes. The grounding causes huge losses for Chinese airlines,” said China aviation expert Li Xiaojin, who estimated losses are likely to be at least $14,000 per aircraft for each airline. He added: “The potential costs are huge, too.” China was the first country to ground the planes after a crash in Ethiopia killed 157 in March.