Financiers grapple with plane shortages amid Boeing MAX crisis
Airlines face years of plane shortages, driving up costs and setting the stage for higher fares, as increased oversight in the wake of a Boeing 737 MAX 9 cabin blowout exacerbates delays caused by weak supply chains, industry officials said. The warning came as aircraft lessors, bankers and airlines met in Dublin - home to a booming global air finance sector - for the first time since the Alaska Airlines incident on Jan. 5 led to a partial grounding and pushed Boeing into a new safety crisis. For months, aviation has been struggling to keep pace with a post-pandemic travel boom amid labour and parts shortages.<br/>But widespread outrage over the near disaster that led to an emergency landing with a gap in the side of an aircraft, but no major injuries, has added a new layer of regulatory risk. "Demand is more or less a slam dunk; the question is when does the supply catch up?" Rob Morris, head of global consultancy at Ascend by Cirium, told Reuters as delegates gathered for the week-long Airline Economics conference. "We have estimated 2026 or 2027, but there must be a risk on the downside now because of the MAX." The FAA last week took the unusual step of ordering Boeing to stop increasing 737 MAX production until quality control concerns highlighted by the discovery of loose bolts in the fleet were addressed.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2024-01-30/general/financiers-grapple-with-plane-shortages-amid-boeing-max-crisis
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Financiers grapple with plane shortages amid Boeing MAX crisis
Airlines face years of plane shortages, driving up costs and setting the stage for higher fares, as increased oversight in the wake of a Boeing 737 MAX 9 cabin blowout exacerbates delays caused by weak supply chains, industry officials said. The warning came as aircraft lessors, bankers and airlines met in Dublin - home to a booming global air finance sector - for the first time since the Alaska Airlines incident on Jan. 5 led to a partial grounding and pushed Boeing into a new safety crisis. For months, aviation has been struggling to keep pace with a post-pandemic travel boom amid labour and parts shortages.<br/>But widespread outrage over the near disaster that led to an emergency landing with a gap in the side of an aircraft, but no major injuries, has added a new layer of regulatory risk. "Demand is more or less a slam dunk; the question is when does the supply catch up?" Rob Morris, head of global consultancy at Ascend by Cirium, told Reuters as delegates gathered for the week-long Airline Economics conference. "We have estimated 2026 or 2027, but there must be a risk on the downside now because of the MAX." The FAA last week took the unusual step of ordering Boeing to stop increasing 737 MAX production until quality control concerns highlighted by the discovery of loose bolts in the fleet were addressed.<br/>
