Industry

Boeing Nears Deal To Salvage Turkish Airlines Order For Up To 150 737 MAX Jets

James Holloway Sep 16, 2026 · 3 min read · — · Aviation Shop Newsroom

By James Holloway

Boeing is nearing an agreement that would finalize Turkish Airlines’ purchase of up to 150 Boeing 737 MAX jets after an engine-maintenance dispute threatened to unwind the narrowbody piece of a larger package, AeroTime reported on September 15, 2026, citing Reuters sources familiar with the talks. People involved said a signing could come next week if the remaining commercial points close. Turkish Airlines had threatened to walk away from the Boeing narrowbodies and look at Airbus if CFM International maintenance arrangements could not be settled on terms Ankara would accept.

Boeing and CFM declined to comment on the Reuters report, and Turkish Airlines did not respond to the agency’s request for comment. The MAX buy sits inside a package of up to 225 Boeing aircraft announced in September 2025 after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met US President Donald Trump. Turkish Airlines framed 100 firm 737 MAX orders plus options for another 50, with completion dependent on a CFM deal covering the LEAP-1B engines. The proposed fleet mix covers the 737-8 and the larger 737-10, so the headline 150-aircraft total includes options rather than 150 firm jets.

Boeing described the commitment at announcement as Turkish Airlines’ largest single-aisle purchase from the manufacturer once the order is finalized. The same package also included 50 firm Boeing 787 orders — 35 787-9s and 15 787-10s — plus options for another 25 Dreamliners to stretch the widebody pipeline. The 787-10 would be new to Turkish Airlines and was pitched for denser passenger and cargo loads on busy routes to the United States, Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East from the Istanbul hub.

At the time of the announcement, Turkish Airlines already operated more than 200 Boeing aircraft across 737, 777 and 787-9 types in passenger service. Boeing said the combined purchases including options would roughly double the airline’s Boeing fleet if everything converts as planned. Finalizing the MAX maintenance terms is the remaining gate that kept the narrowbody tranche conditional for nearly a year after the political announcement in Washington and Ankara last September.

CFM International, jointly owned by GE Aerospace and Safran, builds the LEAP-1B engines that power the 737 MAX family on which Turkish Airlines would rely for the new single-aisle growth. Maintenance cost, spare-engine coverage and shop-visit timing are the usual levers in airline-OEM disputes of this size, though Reuters’ sourcing did not publish a dollar figure for the outstanding gap between the parties. What is public is the threat of an Airbus switch and the reported near-term signing window if the CFM talks close next week.

Until Boeing, CFM and Turkish Airlines confirm a signed contract in writing, the 150-jet MAX story remains a near-deal rather than a closed order book on Boeing’s backlog. The Dreamliner firm orders from the 2025 package are a separate track that was not described as blocked by the same maintenance dispute in the Reuters account. For fleet planners watching Istanbul’s growth, the practical question is whether next week’s reported signing converts the conditional MAX commitment into delivery slots — or whether the CFM standoff slips again.