Boeing gets more orders for the 737-9. Don’t call it a MAX.

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Alaska Airlines

given

Boeing

a boost on Monday. The carrier is ordering more 737 MAX jets, a vote of confidence for the struggling plane.

Alaska Air

(ticker: ALK) converts 12 MAX jet purchase options into orders. Converting an option to an order puts the aircraft in

Boeing

‘s (BA) and starts the delivery planning process and requires a cash deposit.

Alaska now has 93 MAX orders and has had five of the jets in service since the spring.

“We are extremely satisfied with the operational, financial and environmental performance of the aircraft,” Nat Pieper, vice president of fleet, finance and alliances for the airline, said in a press release. “The planes exceed our expectations, from the quiet operation of the engines to the longest range they offer, and our customers love them. “

Alaska referred to the model only as the 737-9, another name for the MAX. The 9 after the dash indicates the model, a common practice that aircraft manufacturers use to identify the different members of an aircraft family.

The carrier could distance itself from the MAX name because the model was grounded around the world for about 20 months after two fatal crashes, one in October 2018 and the other in March 2019. The Federal Aviation Administration cleared the plane to fly again last November.

Alaska said Barron in an emailed statement, the 737-9 is how they refer to the aircraft internally and there is no motivation behind the wording of the release.

Airlines buy the MAX not only because they think the jet is safe, but because the model is much cheaper to operate than the old ones. Since FAA recertification, Boeing has delivered more than 150 MAX jets to airline customers.

Boeing said Barron in an email statement that the converted options will appear as firm orders when the numbers are updated. “We look forward to delivering more 737 MAX jets to Alaska Airlines in the months and years to come,” the company said.

Despite the order from Alaska, Boeing shares fell 2.3% on Monday, to $ 229.06. the

S&P 500

and

Dow Jones Industrial Average

both increased by 0.3%.

Aerospace stocks are hit a little harder these days, in part because of the Covid-19 Delta variant.

Airbus

(AIR.France) is down 0.8%. Boeing Supplier

Spirit AeroSystems

(SPR) was down 1.6%.

Write to Al Root at [email protected]