Senior vice president Ihssane Mounir also dismissed the launch of a longer-range single-aisle jet by rival Airbus as suitable for only a “sliver” of the market that Boeing hopes to address with a possible all-new mid-market plane.
He declined to comment on the timing of Boeing’s own mid-market plane and said returning the grounded 737 MAX to service was its top priority after two deadly crashes.
Boeing’s top-selling aircraft has been taken out of service worldwide since an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX crashed in March, five months after a Lion Air 737 MAX plunged into the sea off Indonesia.
A total of 346 people died in the two disasters.
The shock announcement of a tentative order for 200 737 MAX airplanes from IAG, which operates Airbus for medium-haul routes and mainly Boeing ones for long-haul, electrified a subdued gathering overshadowed by the MAX crisis and trade tensions.
Boeing had opened the show on a somber note and suffered a further setback when General Electric disclosed a delay of months in supplying engines for the new 777X at the start of the show due to a component flaw. (Reuters/NAN)