Allegiant Air to Buy 50 Boeing 737 MAX Jets

Allegiant’s purchase will see Boeing adding a U.S. customer, winning business from an airline whose current fleet comprises aircraft built by Airbus SE. Allegiant now exclusively flies Airbus A319s and A320s, models that have been longtime rivals to Boeing’s 737s.

Competition from European rival Airbus helped spur Boeing to create its MAX series, an update to the manufacturer’s decades-old 737 program. Design decisions meant to maintain commonality with earlier 737 models led Boeing to introduce a computer-based flight-control mode that investigators have blamed for two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019.

Since then, the system has been redesigned. In 2020, the FAA and global regulators lifted a ban on the aircraft type that had lasted more than a year.

The groundings led customers to cancel hundreds of orders, although sales of the 737 MAX picked up again last year.

Still, other customers have moved away from Boeing, with Dutch carrier KLM and Australia’s Qantas Airways Ltd. signing orders with Airbus last month to buy hundreds of A320s.

The deal also represents a strategic milestone for Allegiant, an airline that has previously focused on buying used aircraft to operate its point-to-point routes largely focused on bringing tourists to leisure destinations.

“The pandemic recovery cycle has brought to Allegiant unique opportunities to acquire new equipment,” the airline said.

Allegiant cited the MAX’s fuel efficiency and cabin features as factors in its decision.

Allegiant still plans to buy more used Airbus A320s, leaving it with a split fleet after the first MAX delivery batch is completed in 2025.

Write to Matt Grossman at matt.grossman@wsj.com