Aircraft delivery schedules of Air India and Akasa Air are likely to face turbulence, upsetting their market expansion plans as US manufacturer Boeing on Monday said that deliveries may be delayed following production-related issues with its best-seller passenger jet 737 Max.
One of the suppliers of the US-based company used a ‘non-standard manufacturing process’ used during the installation of two fittings in the fuselage section of certain variants of the 737 Max aircraft. While those 737s that are currently in operation with airlines can continue to operate, said Boeing, those which are on order will likely face a delay, it added.
“This is not an immediate safety of flight issue and the in-service fleet can continue operating safely. However, the issue will likely affect a significant number of undelivered 737 Max airplanes, both in production and in storage,” a Boeing spokesperson said.
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The supplier, Spirit AeroSystems, notified to Boeing about the non-standard manufacturing process that it used during the installation process pertaining to 737-7, 737-8, 737-8-200 and P-8 model airplanes, creating the potential for a non-conformance to required specifications.
Air India and Akasa have placed orders for the 737 Max, which are progressively expected to get delivered this year and the next few years. Akasa Air, one of India’s youngest airlines, has placed its bet exclusively on the 737 Max as its entire current and future confirmed fleet comprises this aircraft type.
The Mumbai-based airline was expecting deliveries of 12-16 aircraft per year from next year as part of the total 72 units of the 737 Max aircraft order it placed earlier. It has a total of 19 aircraft in its fleet as of today.
In a recent interview with FE, when asked if the airline will look at other narrow body aircraft options such as the Airbus 320 for the company’s upcoming fresh order, Praveen Iyer, co-founder and chief commercial officer, Akasa Air, did not dismiss that possibility.
As part of the record 470 aircraft deal, Tata Sons-controlled Air India had placed orders for 190 737 Max planes in February this year. Most of these brand-new planes will serve India’s domestic market even as the larger 777s get ready to connect international destinations.
Emails sent to Air India and Akasa Air remained unanswered at the time of going to press.
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Last week, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said that the production ramp up plans of the 737 remain unchanged for the year despite the manufacturing problems the company is facing. The manufacturer was forced to cut production following two plane crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people.
He further added that the long-term guidance for 2025-26, which calls for production to be upped to 50 737 Max aircraft per month, remains unchanged. The company is planning to ramp up production to 38 jets per month by June before hitting 42 per month by January 2024 and 52 a month by January 2025.