Turkish Airlines firms 100 Boeing 737 MAX jets, with deliveries from 2033

Turkish Airlines signed for 100 Boeing 737-8s on Wednesday that do not start arriving until 2033, after a year of talks held up by engine-maintenance terms. Reuters reported the airline had threatened to switch the order to Airbus. What a holder gets today is a backlog line, not additional 737 output this year.

The airline bought the 100 737-8s and took options on 50 more 737 MAX aircraft, Boeing said, with rights to substitute the larger 737-10. A stock-exchange filing set deliveries from 2033 through 2037, with no price disclosed. Boeing called the pact the carrier's largest Boeing single-aisle order and the conclusion of discussions begun in 2025.

The MAX tranche had remained conditional on talks with CFM International, the GE Aerospace and Safran joint venture that makes the 737 MAX's only engine. Reuters reported on September 15, citing people familiar with the matter, that the dispute centered on who would bear long-term repair costs and on whether Turkish Airlines would get a top-tier CFM maintenance plant. Neither Boeing nor the airline said Wednesday what changed on the engine side.

One hundred firm jets across five calendar years is about 20 aircraft a year, against a 737 line Boeing is still trying to stabilize at 47 a month. Boeing said in August the 737 MAX family order book stood at more than 7,200 airplanes, with more than 2,300 already delivered through June. Boeing shares were at $201.71, up 2.0%, as of 1:53 p.m. Eastern, a session move no source has tied to the order.

A fund of U.S. aerospace and defense stocks, AITA, graded A in etf.net's Defense & Aerospace category, held GE Aerospace as its largest position as of Tuesday.

GE co-owns CFM. The party that could hold up a Boeing order for a year is a larger position than Boeing.