Boeing 737 Max orders picking up

With the return of the 737 Max to service for more and more airlines, with apparently little if any customer pushback, Boeing may be breathing a little easier—especially since orders are picking up, too.

Southwest Airlines showed its long-time Boeing loyalty this week with an order for a hundred more 737 Max planes, and options on 155 beyond that. The order follows an Alaska Airlines order for 23 planes, which it will use to replace the last of the A320s it inherited when it took over Virgin America, restoring its status as an all-Boeing airline. Both airlines have traditionally been all-Boeing.

The big orders are an important confidence-builder for Boeing; many analysts had forecast serious damage to Boeing's future as a result of the worldwide year-long grounding of the plane over safety issues that caused two fatal crashes.

Southwest's total 737 orders could go as high as 619 of the planes. There are now 349 firm orders, with 270 options that could be firmed up later.