Russia state aviation Aeroflot to cancel Boeing 737 Max orders if safety not ensured

Russia's national flag carrier Aeroflot will cancel its order of 20 Boeing 737 Max planes unless Boeing is able to guarantee the plane's safety after Sunday's deadly crash in Ethiopia by November, Aeroflot CEO Vitaly Savelyev said on Friday. Aeroflot has ordered 20 Boeing 737 Max planes for its low cost subsidiary Pobeda and Boeing is scheduled to begin delivering the planes as soon as November this year.

"If there isn't a 100 per cent guarantee that the machine is safe then no one will take it," Savelyev said. "Deliveries for Pobeda were due to be no earlier than November 2019. Either Boeing resolves the safety problem with the 737 Max by that time or we will order a different plane," he said.

The Russian government has proposed that Pobeda limit itself to the 20 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft on order and buy Russian-made planes in future, the Vedomosti business daily reported on Friday.