Delivery delays for Alaska Airlines
Aircraft manufacturer Boeing has informed Alaska Airlines about delays for some of its narrowbody and widebody airplanes.
The carrier operates an all-Boeing 737 fleet, but Hawaiian Airlines, which was recently acquired by Alaska Air Group, has many unfulfilled orders for Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
FlightGlobal quotes from an Alaska Airlines 10K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission:
“Boeing has communicated that certain 737 and 787-9 aircraft are expected to be delivered later than the contracted delivery timing.
“This includes 787-9 aircraft contracted for delivery between 2024 and 2026 that have been moved later into the contract or into the year following the contracted delivery … We may not be able to grow our airlines’ fleet at intended rates, which could impact our financial position”
The report says that Alaska’s management expects delivery delays for many MAX planes, including those that were originally slotted to arrive in 2024 but have now been pushed to 2025. Six MAX 8s that were supposed to be delivered this year have now been pushed into 2026.
Other airlines are affected, too
Of course, Boeing’s delivery issues have affected several other airlines both within and outside the United States. Southwest Airlines, another all-Boeing 737 operator, was also forced to tweak its fleet strategy for 2025.
In November, it was reported that Southwest made a realistic assessment to lower its delivery estimates for 2025.
The budget carrier initially expected to receive 86 aircraft in 2025, but its Chief Executive Officer Bob Jordan said that he wouldn’t be surprised if the deliveries from Boeing in 2025 are lower than they originally thought.
European low-cost giant Ryanair also listed the impact of Boeing’s delivery delay as one of the factors contributing to a drop in its H1 profit last year.
The carrier’s CEO, Michael O’Leary, said last year that the risk of further delivery delays remains high, particularly for summer 2025.
The reason behind this was the delivery delay of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, which forced the carrier to restructure its network strategy.
Copa was also one of the airlines severely affected in the immediate aftermath of last year’s Alaska Airline blowout incident, in which it had to temporarily ground its 737 MAX 9 aircraft.
Boeing’s latest delivery numbers
Progress is slow and gradual for Boeing. After heavy regulatory scrutiny all of last year, which included the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) capping the monthly production of the 737 MAX to 38 as well as the long machinist strike, Boeing is carefully planning a recovery strategy.
Several airlines are hoping that Boeing will ramp up its delivery numbers this year after solving all of its quality issues, especially under the leadership of its new chief executive officer, Kelly Ortberg.
The plane maker’s January delivery numbers were, in fact, its best in two years as well as the best for January since 2019. The company delivered 45 airplanes, 40 of which were the 737 MAX aircraft.
Several airlines across the US and the world received 737 MAX planes last month, including seven for United Airlines, five for Southwest, two for Air China, and three for Air Lease Corporation, among various other customers.
Boeing also reported 36 new aircraft orders in January, 34 of which were for the popular 737 MAX airplane for an undisclosed customer and two for the 777 freighter for an undisclosed customer as well. As a comparison, Boeing bagged 27 orders in January 2024.
