Boeing believes it is making progress with improving its aircraft delivery situation, even as Middle Eastern carrier Flydubai expressed dismay over continuing hold-ups which are forcing the airline to rejig its network.
Flydubai operates an all-Boeing 737 fleet comprising 88 aircraft – among them 59 Max jets and 29 737-800s. Over 125 Max airframes are still on order.
But it says Boeing delivery issues have led to fewer aircraft deliveries “every year for the past three years”, and the schedule for 2024 has undergone “multiple revisions”.
Flydubai expects to receive 14 fewer 737 Max jets than planned this year. This has spurred the airline, which aims to open six new routes over the next few months, to examine route development, frequency revision, and other options – including wet-leasing and lease extensions.
“We are extremely disappointed to learn that Boeing will not be able to fulfil its commitment to deliver more aircraft for the remainder of the year,” says chief executive Ghaith Al Ghaith.
“Boeing’s short-noticed and frequent delivery schedule revisions have hindered our strategic growth plans, resulting in significant disruptions to our published schedules.”
”We deeply regret the impact on Flydubai and their business plans,” says Boeing. ”Our team is focused on stabilising production and the supply chain so we can deliver on our customer commitments. As we do so, we will remain in close contact with our customers.”
Boeing vice-president of commercial marketing Darren Hulst, speaking during a 22 July briefing, did not comment on Flydubai’s grievances specifically, but he believes the airframer’s measures to address the problems have “put us on a better footing”.
“There is no doubt we have disappointed our customers and we have disappointed them over and over again in many cases,” he acknowledges.
“The work that we have been doing this year – to make sure that we have the quality and the stability in our production line and our supply chain – is designed so we don’t disappoint our customers going forward.
“We need to create that stability, so that we can provide not just a quality airplane but a quality airplane [for] when we tell customers that it’s going to be delivered.”
Ryanair, another key 737 Max customer, has observed an “improvement in the quality and frequency of deliveries” over the first quarter of this year, says chief executive Michael O’Leary.
Its fleet situation has improved over the past two months and it expects to have over 160 737 Max aircraft by the end of July, up on its previous estimate.
