BOEING today apologised to Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAB) for the non-delivery of 25 737-MAX aircraft that has caused the national carrier’s operations to be disrupted.

The American aircraft manufacturer told The Malaysian Insight that it would support MAB and all of its customers in every way possible to restore confidence in the aircraft model.

“We are sorry for the disruption this situation has caused Malaysia Airlines. We are working to support them and all of our customers in every way possible to ensure complete confidence in the 737-MAX and a safe return to commercial flight,” it said in an email response to queries.

It did not respond to the questions of whether the deal with MAB would be renegotiated, how many jets were due for delivery this year, and if MAB’s suspension of its order left a financial impact.

MAB, in an earlier statement announcing it was suspending taking delivery of its 737 MAX order due this year, said that its utmost priority was the safety of its operations and customers.

“Malaysia Airlines views safety of its operations and customers of utmost priority and welcomes moves by Boeing to improve procedures to ensure the safe operations of the 737-MAX. As there is no clarity yet from various authorities on its return to service, our technical due diligence is still ongoing,” the flag carrier said when contacted.

In view of the production stoppage and the delayed return to service of the 737-MAX, Malaysia Airlines has suspended the delivery of its orders which are due in 2020,” it added.

MAB was to take delivery of the first 737 MAX in July.

Boeing reported the lowest number of plane deliveries in 11 years on Tuesday with a net negative of 183 orders, following the grounding of the 737  MAX in March last year.

The 737-Max jetliner was grounded worldwide after the double disasters of the October 2018 Lion Air  and March 2019 Ethiopian Airlines crashes. – January 15, 2020.