The scale of Boeing's liability to airlines for the 737 Max debacle became a little clearer Wednesday when Brazilian airline Gol said it has received 500 million reais ($86 million) out of 2.4 billion reais ($412 million) worth of compensation it has booked to collect from Boeing over several years for the grounding of the jet and subsequent order-book restructuring.
Gol, which had to ground all seven of the Max 8s it had taken since its first delivery on June 28, 2018, also cited non-delivery of 25 more of the airplanes in its claim of adverse effects on its operations, growth, and fleet renewal plan. Along with the cash compensation, Gol’s agreement with Boeing included the cancellation of orders for 34 airplanes, bringing its firm order total from 129 to 95.
The low-fare carrier, which had placed its first Max order—for 60 Max 8s—in 2012, added two follow-on orders that increased its total order count for the Max 8 to 99. It also placed an order for 30 Max 10s at the 2018 Farnborough Airshow.
In a monthly investors’ update issued Wednesday, Gol said it held more than 10 months worth of cash reserves “to shield and strengthen it” through the Covid-19 crisis. The company has grounded 120 airplanes, all Boeing 737NGs and Max 8s, or 92 percent of its entire fleet. Now operating the equivalent of 7 percent of last year’s schedule, Gol said it expects that share to rise to 12 percent by the end of May, with the re-opening of bases at the Foz de Iguaçu, Navegantes, and Maringá airports, and the restart of a limited number of flights from Congonhas airport in São Paulo to Santos Dumont and Galeão airports in Rio de Janeiro.