In an SEC filing on Friday, Southwest Airlines announced that it has exercised options to receive 30 Boeing 737 MAX 7 planes next year. Additionally, the company has converted 24 existing MAX 7 orders to MAX 8.
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The decision to convert some MAX 7 orders to the already operational MAX 8 model will help mitigate any impact of delivery delays caused by Boeing's recent announcement of the first delivery of the 737 MAX 7 being delayed to 2024.
During a post-earnings call on Thursday, CEO Robert Jordan shared that Southwest Airlines plans to fly the MAX 7 "at some point next year". However, if that is not possible, the company will take MAX 8 orders instead.
This decision comes after Southwest Airlines issued disappointing forecasts for the current quarter and full year, following lower-than-expected second-quarter results. These results have raised concerns about the strength of domestic travel demand in the United States.