China Eastern Airlines confirmed to news outlet The Paper on Tuesday it has officially lodged claims with Boeing for losses caused by the 737 MAX's grounding and late delivery, adding the two companies will stay in communication over the issue.
The move makes China Eastern Airlines the first airline in China to ask Boeing for compensation, as the 737 MAX suffered worldwide suspensions after two deadly crashes which took more than 300 lives in six months.
Fourteen Boeing 737 MAX jets under China Eastern Airlines have been grounded since March 11.
Boeing stressed that it refused to talk about any communications with its clients.
Bloomberg cited people with knowledge of the matter last Wednesday, saying Air China Ltd, China Southern Airlines Co and China Eastern Airlines Corp are in preliminary talks to seek compensation from Boeing for the disruption from the 737 MAX stoppages. At present, the report has not yet been verified.
According to a China Eastern representative previously quoted by The Paper, the issue has had a limited and controllable effect on the company, and it has had more of an impact on the whole industry.
Data from carnoc.com, one of China's largest civil aviation web portals, showed 96 Boeing 737 MAX planes are run by domestic airlines. Of these, 24 are operated by China Southern, 15 by Air China, 11 by Hainan Airlines and 3 by China Eastern.
