Global airline leaders are bracing for supply-chain challenges to last for at least another two years, as manufacturers struggle to meet demand from a growing industry.
Speaking during a panel discussion at Farnborough air show on 22 July, the chief executive of British Airways and Iberia owner IAG, Luis Gallego, said “a couple of years minimum” when asked for how long those challenges will continue to be a factor for the world’s airlines.
“We are in this together,” he says. “We want them to improve. We need aircraft, we need engines, we want to grow [but] we cannot do it right now on the path that we want.”
Air India chief executive Campbell Wilson also expects two more years of supply-chain challenges.
“The products themselves are okay; the pace of delivery is not,” he says. “Restarting an industry and a supply chain from scratch clearly is difficult and it’s difficult for all of us.”
Wilson notes that the issues go beyond the delivery of new aircraft, with Air India having a particular challenge with the refurbishment of its fleet.
“The things that can trip you up are maybe not the obvious ones,” he says. “We all know the airframers and the challenges they face, we all know about some of the engine manufacturers and the challenges they face.
“But seat supply is another bottleneck and in our case is probably the principal bottleneck,” Wilson says.
Pegasus chief executive Guliz Ozturk observes that even short delays to the delivery of new aircraft can have a significant impact on a carrier.
“Even two or three weeks for a July aircraft [creates headaches because] that is so critical to an airline,” she says.
The biggest issue, Ozturk says, is the uncertainty created by unclear delivery schedules.
“The predictability should there because we plan a year ahead, two years ahead,” she states.
“It needs a closer collaboration, a closer information exchange so we know what to expect.”
