While Boeing has struggled to meet delivery schedule for quite some time, the recent strike by its workers has further affected its production timeline. Southwest Airlines, one of Boeing’s biggest customers for the 737 MAX aircraft, has also adjusted its estimates for new airplanes it anticipates next year after a realistic assessment.
Airlines around the world have been impacted by delayed deliveries of Boeing aircraft, particularly the 737 MAX planes. And carriers that depend entirely upon the aircraft type could feel the pinch more than others.
Given the recent developments at Boeing, the plane manufacturer estimates even more delays than previously anticipated, and Southwest Airlines has also made a realistic assessment to lower its delivery estimates for 2025.
The low-cost carrier was scheduled to receive 86 aircraft in 2025. However, it has now lowered that estimate to 73 aircraft. BNN Bloomberg quotes Southwest Chief Executive Officer Bob Jordan as saying,
“It’s too early to tell, but I wouldn’t be surprised if our deliveries from Boeing in ‘25 are lower than we originally thought.”
The report adds that Southwest is not really relying on Boeing’s estimates of deliveries next year and is choosing to stick to a more conservative number.
Things haven’t exactly gone in Boeing’s favor this year. In January, when the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 blowout incident occurred, the Federal Aviation Administration capped the MAX production to 38 planes a month.
Airlines weren’t happy about this, and some even shifted their focus to Airbus to look for possible replacements. Even as Boeing worked towards rebuilding its manufacturing quality again amid hiring a new CEO, the strike in September derailed its plans even further.
In October, Boeing delivered only 14 aircraft, including nine 737 MAXs, one 767F, one 787-9, and three 787-10. The company says that it will take several weeks before it can fully restart airplane production. Its CEO, Kelly Ortberg, said during an earnings call,
“Our safety and quality management system will guide us through the restart, and we have a detailed return to work plan in place, and I'm really looking forward to getting everybody back and getting to work on that plan.”
Several other airlines have been affected by Boeing’s production delays. Alaska Airlines recently said that it has identified several new routes with potential, but that has been put on hold due to Boeing’s delivery issues.
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European low-cost giant Ryanair listed the impact of Boeing’s delivery delay as one of the factors contributing to a drop in its H1 profit. The carrier operates an all-Boeing 737 fleet and has dozens of MAX planes on order.
Ryanair has also cut its passenger estimates due to the same issue. The carrier’s CEO, Michael O’Leary stated,
“The risk of further delivery delays remains high, particularly for [summer 2025], and it is in that context that we think it is sensible now to slow down our projected traffic growth next year from 215 million to 210 million passengers.”
