The slowdown in production at Boeing and the recent strike at the plane makers’ manufacturing facilities in the US are causing delays in aircraft deliveries to the Air India group, with some deliveries of already-manufactured jets that were earlier scheduled by December now stretching up to June of 2025. As for line-fit aircraft — planes to be built specifically for Air India — the airline is not yet sure about the likely delays and its impact.
“There were 50 (Boeing 737 MAX) white-tails and all of them were supposed to have come by December. As it stands now, they will stretch out until June of next year. That in itself has a little bit of an impact. As for the line-fit (aircraft), there are two contributing factors here. One is the slowdown in production that they (Boeing) had, and then there was the strike. So, it is not clear to us, and I think even to Boeing yet, quite how long the impact is going to be,” Air India Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Campbell Wilson said. As part of its mega order for 470 aircraft placed last year with Airbus and Boeing, the Air India group had ordered 220 Boeing planes — 190 narrow-body 737 MAX planes, 20 wide-body 787 planes, and 10 wide-body 777X aircraft. Of the 190 737 MAX planes, 50 were white-tails — aircraft made for other airlines but transferred to the Air India group due to cancellation of the original order — and the other 140 were to be line-fit planes. So far, 35 of the 50 white-tails have been delivered to Air India Express, with the remaining planes delayed.