Vietnam Airlines is considering a US$10 billion deal with Boeing for 50 737 Max aircraft, VN Express is reporting. The article says that the deal will see the national carrier replace its ageing fleet of A321 aircraft. There is no mention in the article of the two fatal crashes involving Boeing 737 Max aircraft in 2018 and 2019, in Indonesia and Ethiopia, respectively.
Why it matters: Vietnam Airlines did not weather the COVID-19 border closures well and has been haemorrhaging money ever since. Notably, it is still yet to disclose its 2022 annual report probably because the information therein is not positive and as of March 31 this year had negative equity of VND 10 trillion ($415.6 million). In this context, it’s not clear that a US$10 billion dollar deal with Boeing is what the struggling airline needs.