Airlines across the world are feeling the pinch of delivery delays caused by problems at Boeing and Airbus, and the effects are both near-term and potentially long-term. The problems go beyond Boeing’s well-known issues; there are also problems with both new and in-service engines on both company’s planes.
American Airlines has limited or dropped some routes because its 787s haven’t been delivered on schedule, and similar decisions have been made at other airlines where deliveries are late and where engine issues have kept noticeable percentages of fleets on the ground.
It’s also led many airlines to keep planes in the air longer; for airlines such as Southwest or Ryanair that have almost all-737 fleets, delays in delivery of new 737 MAX planes mainly mean keeping older 737s going longer.
Delta, though, finds itself in a nearly-unique situation: It’s made a big bet, and its first major Boeing order in years, on a plane that has not yet been certified by the FAA, although it was supposed to be flying three years ago. Delta, whose fleet used to be all U.S. built, has bought almost exclusively from Airbus for the past ten years; its order for 100 737-10s was its first Boeing order in years. Boeing now says it hopes certification will be complete next year, but Delta president Ed Bastian is guessing 2027.
The 737-10, with a capacity of up to 230, is Delta’s planned replacement for its fleet of about 120 757s, rather than as a replacement for smaller 737s or A320s. The 757 hasn’t been built for 20 years, and the average age of Delta’s is 27 years. There’s good life in them yet, and many have upgraded interiors, but they are still far less fuel-efficient than newer planes, and maintenance costs grow as planes age.
The question for Delta is a big one: How long can the 757 fleet be reliable? And, what happens if the 737-10 isn’t certified anytime soon? The only real option of a single-aisle plane in that size and range is Airbus’s A321LR and XLR—a plane so popular with many airlines, including several U.S. airlines that Airbus is sitting on an order backlog that will take several years to clear. New orders now are likely to be at the end of the queue.
Image: Daniel Shapiro/Unsplash
