The grounding worldwide of the Boeing 737 MAX passenger airline back in 2019, which lasted for 21 months, has had a significant impact on air cargo capacity. So says Garry Marshall, chief executive officer of BidAir Cargo.Responding to questions at a recent Transport Forum on the availability of aircraft capacity, Marshall said it was important not to underestimate the impact that the grounding of these aircraft had had on the airfreight sector.Boeing grounded the 737 MAX worldwide between March 2019 and December 2020 after two crashes.Marshall said many of Boeing’s 737-800 aircraft that were scheduled to be replaced with the MAX remained as passenger aircraft instead of being converted to freighters.The market had also seen increased uncertainty, resulting in a reluctance by airlines to invest in new aircraft of any kind, explained Marshall."This could also impact aircraft capacity for the cargo sector.”
