Boeing Books 100-Aircraft Order from SMBC

The leasing and financing firm will take delivery of 60 737-10s and 40 737-8s.

Zach Vasile

Monday, July 20, 2026 at 04:01 PM ET

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Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

737 MAX aircraft in Renton. (Photo: Shutterstock | Thiago B Trevisan)

Aircraft lessor and financing company SMBC Aviation Capital has agreed to buy 100 Boeing 737 MAX jets, the two companies announced Monday.

SMBC, which is based in Dublin and majority-owned by Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, will take delivery of 60 737-10 aircraft and 40 737-8s. Financial details were not disclosed.

Boeing said the order will bring SMBC’s combined 737 MAX portfolio to 450 jets.

SMBC praised the MAX’s fuel efficiency and improved technology and said more of its airline and investor customers are looking to upgauge to the -10. This week’s order should help meet their growth plans well into the next decade, the firm noted.

“This transaction represents a significant milestone for SMBC Aviation Capital and will ensure our airline customers have access to a long-term pipeline of new technology aircraft,” SMBC CEO Peter Barrett said in a news release.

Boeing announced the deal with SMBC on the same day it booked separate 787 Dreamliner orders from Philippine Airlines and Riyadh Air.

Zach Vasile

Zach Vasile is a writer and editor covering news in all aspects of commercial aviation. He has reported for and contributed to the Manchester Journal Inquirer, the Hartford Business Journal, the Charlotte Observer, and the Washington Examiner, with his area of focus being the intersection of business and government policy.

WestJet Adds Five New Routes

Service will start in November and December.

Zach Vasile

Monday, July 20, 2026 at 02:17 PM ET

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Ryan Ewing

A WestJet Boeing 737 MAX. (Photo: Shutterstock | Vadim Rodnev)

Canadian carrier WestJet will add five new connections to the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America this winter.

The airline announced Monday that it will serve Mérida, Mexico, for the first time, from its hub in Calgary. Weekly service to Mérida will commence Dec. 17.

WestJet said the route will be the only one on any airline linking Mérida with western Canada.

The four other new city pairs are Winnipeg and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (starting Nov. 28); Regina and San José del Cabo, Mexico (Dec. 14); Winnipeg and Belize City (Dec. 14); and Ottawa and Liberia, Costa Rica (Dec. 20). All will operate weekly.

“These additions support the growing demand for options in Mexico and the Latin Caribbean, while sustainably expanding our schedule and managing our fleet during the peak winter travel season,” John Weatherill, WestJet’s executive vice president and chief commercial officer, said in a news release.

Zach Vasile

American Plans New 37,000-Square-Foot Lounge at DFW

A private Flagship check-in area and a Provisions by Admirals Club space are also in the works.

Zach Vasile

Monday, July 20, 2026 at 12:15 PM ET

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Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

A digital rendering of the planned Flagship check-in area at DFW. (Credit: American Airlines)

American Airlines on Monday announced a series of new projects at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, including the construction of a roughly 37,000-square-foot Admirals Club lounge in Terminal C.

The space, situated near Terminal C’s Skylink station, will be the largest Admirals Club in American’s network. Guests will have access to a variety of seating options, premium amenities, including a recently expanded food and beverage program, and dedicated areas for work and relaxation, the airline said.

There are currently five Admirals Club lounges at DFW, with one each in Terminals A, B, C, D, and E.

Also on deck is a dedicated Flagship check-in space for eligible customers.

American officials said the area will feature private check-in counters, individual assistance from employees, and convenient access to security screening at the D30 checkpoint. The experience is designed to help travelers make it to their gate more quickly and with less stress and inconvenience, they added.

The check-in area is expected to open later this year.

American also said it will build a Provisions by Admirals Club space in the airport’s future Terminal F. Provisions lounges are generally smaller, with a streamlined “grab and go” design concept centered on fresh food and premium beverages.

The airline opened its first Provisions lounge at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina in 2025 and just recently announced plans to build another at New York-JFK.

American said the Provisions space will be the first of a planned suite of premium offerings in Terminal F, which is scheduled to open to the public in 2027. More details will be released as plans develop, the carrier said.

Zach Vasile

Philippine Airlines Signs Deal for Up to 20 787 Dreamliners

The agreement sets the stage for PAL's first order from Boeing in almost 20 years.

Zach Vasile

Monday, July 20, 2026 at 09:41 AM ET

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Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

A rendering of a PAL 787 Dreamliner. (Credit: Boeing)

Philippine Airlines is set to acquire its first Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners.

Boeing said Monday that the carrier signed a commitment for 15 Dreamliners, with options for up to five more. An expanded agreement covering all 20 aircraft would be worth about $3.4 billion, according to Reuters.

Once finalized, the deal will be PAL’s first with Boeing in almost 20 years.

PAL officials said the new airplanes will increase flexibility in medium- and long-haul flying while lowering operating costs.

“This investment manifests our confidence in the future of Philippine Airlines and the continued growth of air travel,” PAL Holdings President and CEO Lucio C. Tan III said in a news release. “The Boeing 787-10 will strengthen our medium and long-haul fleet, allowing us to provide an even better travel experience for our customers while improving operational efficiency and supporting our long-term sustainability goals.”

The airline did not say when deliveries are expected to begin.

Zach Vasile

JetBlue Cuts Route to Florida

Service will end later this summer.

Zach Vasile

Saturday, July 18, 2026 at 08:00 AM ET

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Ryan Ewing

A JetBlue Airways Airbus A220 prepares for landing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)

JetBlue is ending service between New York-JFK and Vero Beach, Florida, the carrier confirmed to AirlineGeeks.

The service, which launched in December 2025 and currently operates daily, will end Sept. 9.

“Demand for this new route has not materialized as we had hoped,” the airline said in a statement.

Affected customers will be notified and receive a full refund to their original form of payment, the carrier added.

JetBlue will continue to serve Vero Beach from Boston.

Zach Vasile

Livery of the Week: Lufthansa’s First Airbus A350-1000

The special centennial design features an oversized white crane against dark blue.

Vanni Gibertini

Friday, July 17, 2026 at 03:04 PM ET

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Ryan Ewing

Lufthansa's first Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, in "100 years" special livery. (Photo: Lufthansa)

Editor’s Note: AirlineGeeks is proud to present our ‘Livery of the Week’ series. Every Friday, a team member will share an airline livery, which can be from the past, present, or even a special scheme. Some airline liveries are works of art. The complexity associated with painting around critical flight components and the added weight requires outside-the-box thinking from designers. The average airliner can cost upwards of $200,000 to repaint, creating a separate aircraft repainting industry as a result.

Have an idea for a livery that we should highlight? Drop us a line.

In 2026, Lufthansa is celebrating its one hundredth year of operations. The German flag carrier, now the flagship airline of one of the largest aviation groups in the world, is showcasing a special livery on several of its most iconic aircraft on its fleet.

AirlineGeeks previewed the centennial livery last December when it was introduced on a Boeing 787-9 aircraft, and subsequently on a Boeing 747-8i. On July 14, Lufthansa released a few images of the latest new entry in its long-haul fleet: the new Airbus A350-1000 will join the Munich base next fall and will feature the special livery celebrating the one hundredth birthday of the airline.

Lufthansa’s first Airbus A350-1000 aircraft in “100 years” special livery. (Photo: Lufthansa)

700^th Aircraft

The first airframe of the new model will be the 700^th aircraft in Lufthansa’s fleet and will feature new Allegris seats in a four-class configuration carrying up to 300 passengers. Currently using the manufacturer’s callsign F-WZNY, the aircraft will enter service under the German registry with the new registration number D-AIFA and the name “Deutschland.” It will be powered by two Rolls-Royce engines.

Lufthansa has 15 aircraft of this type on order, with delivery scheduled to last until 2030.

Looking for a new airplane model? Head over to our friends at the Midwest Model Store for a wide selection of airlines and liveries.

Vanni Gibertini

Vanni fell in love with commercial aviation during his undergraduate studies in Statistics at the University of Bologna, when he prepared his thesis on the effects of deregulation on the U.S. and European aviation markets. Then he pursued his passion further by obtaining a Master’s Degree in Air Transport Management at Cranfield University in the U.K. followed by holding several management positions at various start-up carriers in Europe (Jet2, SkyEurope, Silverjet). After moving to Canada, he was Business Development Manager for IATA for nine years before turning to his other passion: sports writing.

NTSB to Lead Probe of Window Blowout on Ryanair Flight

A passenger was partially sucked out of the cabin before being pulled back inside.

Zach Vasile

Friday, July 17, 2026 at 02:30 PM ET

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Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

A Ryanair 737-800 in Brussels. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Fabian Behr)

The National Transportation Safety Board will take over the investigation into a window blowout on a Ryanair flight that caused a passenger to be partially sucked out of the airplane.

U.S. aviation regulators determined this week that the flight occurred in Greek airspace, not over North Macedonia, as was originally believed. Greek law allows the country’s transportation authority to hand over investigations to the U.S. where appropriate, and the NTSB has officially accepted the assignment, the Associated Press reported on Thursday.

Greece will still support and participate in the probe, officials clarified.

The blowout occurred on a flight from Thessaloniki, Greece, to Memmingen, Germany, on July 10.

Passengers told media outlets that they heard a loud bang, then saw a male passenger being pulled through the smashed window frame. His head and shoulders were briefly outside the aircraft fuselage, they said, but his seatbelt kept him in place, and other passengers helped pull him fully back inside the cabin.

News websites in Greece reported that the man suffered neck and shoulder injuries and friction burns.

Ryanair acknowledged the incident in a statement but provided few details.

The aircraft returned to Thessaloniki, and most of the passengers were booked on a later flight to Memmingen.

FlightAware shows that Ryanair uses a Boeing 737-800 on its Thessaloniki-Memmingen connection.

Some news outlets have reported that the airplane experienced an engine failure, and that a piece of the engine flew off and burst the window. That information has not been confirmed by Ryanair or authorities in Greece or the U.S., though the NTSB did say the flight reported a “right engine issue” in addition to “cabin decompression.”

Zach Vasile

Bahamas’ Flamingo Air Grounded After Fatal Crash

Ten people were killed when a Cessna 402 went down on Andros Island on July 10.

Zach Vasile

Friday, July 17, 2026 at 12:06 PM ET

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Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

A chart showing San Andros Airport. (Credit: FAA)

Civil aviation regulators in the Bahamas have grounded Flamingo Air after one of the small carrier’s airplanes crashed in the district of North Andros, killing 10 people.

The country’s Ministry of Transport said it has suspended Flamingo Air’s operating certificate, effectively canceling all flights. It was not clear when or if the airline will be cleared to fly again.

Flamingo Air’s website was not functional as of Friday, and its social media channels appear to have been removed or locked down.

A Flamingo Air-operated Cessna 402 aircraft crashed July 10 after encountering some kind of mechanical issue while flying into San Andros Airport. All nine passengers and the pilot were killed.

CBS News reported that the flight was carrying members of a Bahamian musical group to an Independence Day celebration on Andros Island.

An investigation is now underway.

Flamingo Air offers scheduled flights to several islands within the Bahamas, and charter service between the Bahamas and Florida.

Zach Vasile

Air China, Shenzhen Airlines Order 55 Airbus Aircraft

The jets will be delivered between 2029 and 2032.

Zach Vasile

Friday, July 17, 2026 at 10:18 AM ET

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Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

Air China and Shenzhen Airlines aircrafts in Guangzhou's Baiyun Airport (Photo: Lei Yan)

Chinese flag carrier Air China and subsidiary Shenzhen Airlines have ordered a combined 55 new aircraft from Airbus, strengthening the European manufacturer’s hold on the world’s second-largest aviation market.

According to recent filings with the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Air China agreed to buy 15 A350-900 widebody jets, while Shenzhen will acquire 40 A320neo-family narrowbody airplanes. The combined order has a list price of around $12.4 billion, Reuters reported.

The aircraft are expected to be delivered between 2029 and 2032.

Air China said it will get a discount from Airbus due to the size of the order.

Airbus has outsold Boeing in China for around a decade as regulatory friction between Beijing and Washington has grown. The temporary grounding of the 737 MAX also made Airbus’ narrowbody offerings more appealing to Chinese carriers.

The Chinese government agreed to buy 200 aircraft from Boeing during a state visit from President Donald Trump in May, but prior to that, the country’s last significant commercial order from the company was in 2017.

China typically buys civilian aircraft in large numbers and distributes them to state-run airlines later based on growth plans and business needs.

Zach Vasile

Delta Plans New Asia Route

The carrier will be the only U.S. airline flying nonstop between the two cities.

Ryan Ewing

Friday, July 17, 2026 at 09:00 AM ET

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Edited By:

Zach Vasile

A Delta A350-900XWB (Photo: Shutterstock | GingChen)

Delta is adding another transpacific route from Los Angeles as it works to strengthen the airport’s role in its international network.

The airline will begin nonstop service between Los Angeles and Manila on March 28, 2027. Flights will initially operate three times per week before increasing to daily service on June 7.

Delta plans to fly the route with an Airbus A350-900 configured with Delta One, Premium Select, Comfort, and Main Cabin seating.

“Customers traveling through Los Angeles continue to benefit from Delta’s investments in LAX, including an expanding Asia-Pacific network and the opening of our second Delta One Lounge,” said Jeff Arinder, Delta’s vice president of network planning, in a news release. “The addition of Manila builds on the world-class travel experience our customers have come to expect from Delta while strengthening our position as LAX’s leading global carrier and premier West Coast hub.”

The new service will mark Delta’s first nonstop flight to the Philippines. It will also make the carrier the only U.S. airline offering regular service between Los Angeles and Manila.

Delta last served Manila in 2020 with fifth-freedom flights from Tokyo Narita.

The route adds to a recent wave of international growth for Delta at Los Angeles. The carrier has added or restored service to Hong Kong, Melbourne, and Shanghai while also expanding its domestic schedule at the airport.

Ryan Ewing

Ryan founded AirlineGeeks.com in February 2013 and has spent more than a decade covering the airline business. His work has been featured by CNN, WJLA, CNET, and Business Insider. His aviation experience spans airport operations, Part 135 regulatory compliance, and airline crew workforce planning, along with time behind the yoke of a Cessna 172 and interviews with airline executives. Ryan now serves as Group President of Firecrown Media’s Aviation Group. He holds a B.S. in Air Transportation Management and an MBA from Arizona State University and teaches Airline Management at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

700th Aircraft

700^th Aircraft