Doubling down on the MAX: Alaska Airlines orders 52 more 737 aircraft

Alaska Airlines has staked its future on the Boeing 737 MAX — and on Wednesday, placed a large order for more of the jets.

In fact, the Seattle-based carrier said that the order, for 52 Boeing 737 MAX 9 and 10s, is the largest Boeing order in the company’s history. The company currently operates 35 737 MAX aircraft and expects to take delivery of 43 more between now and the end of 2023. The deal includes purchase rights for 105 additional aircraft beyond the 52 firm orders.

With the new order, Alaska could have 250 737 MAXs in its fleet by 2030, though the airline noted that it has some flexibility with this deal to “match our deliveries with economic conditions while saving our place in the production line.”

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“This investment secures aircraft to optimize our growth through the next decade, which we know will be a formidable competitive advantage,” Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said in a statement. “We’re proud of the strong financial foundation that uniquely positions Alaska to make this commitment to our future, and of the fantastic partnership we share with our hometown aircraft manufacturer at Boeing.”

The order is for 42 737 MAX 10s and 10 737 MAX 9s, and the company noted that it has the flexibility to change that distribution moving forward to adapt to market conditions. The 737 MAX 10 faces a crucial end-of-year certification deadline that Boeing is all but certain to miss.

At issue is the lack of a crew alerting system on the 737 MAX and a federal law that requires aircraft certified after the end of this year to include one. With Boeing likely to miss this deadline, the company likely needs Congress to pass a law exempting the 737 MAX from the deadline. Minicucci last week came out in support of an exemption.

“I do think the -10 will get certified,” he told CNBC.

As Boeing builds its 737 MAX 10 order book, especially with orders from U.S. carriers — Delta Air Lines this summer also ordered the largest MAX variant and United Airlines has 250 on order — the company is likely ratcheting up political pressure on Congress for the exemption.

More: Boeing blockbuster: Delta signs deal for 100 737 MAX 10 aircraft

Alaska has long been a 737 operator and has operated all four generations of the venerable Boeing jet. The airline also currently operates a diminishing fleet of Airbus aircraft that it acquired through its 2016 merger with Virgin America but plans to retire its final A320s by January and its A321neos by the end of next year. Alaska’s 737s have “proudly all Boeing” painted on the forward fuselage — a moniker that will once again be fully true.