Boeing orders for July
August 18, 2023
Boeing in July booked orders for 52 aircraft, led by 39 orders placed by Saudi Arabian flag carrier Saudia, and delivered 43 aircraft that month. Saudia ordered 21 Boeing 787-10 aircraft and 18 787-9s to grow its widebody fleet. Luxembourgish flag carrier Luxair also ordered four 737 Max aircraft. Orders from unidentified customers included eight Max jets and one 777 freighter. This order tally for Boeing declined year on year compared with 130 aircraft orders in July 2022, and compared with 304 orders finalised in June 2023 amid the Paris Air Show. Supply chain and manufacturing challenges impacted the rate of deliveries, which declined compared with the 60 aircraft Boeing shipped in June. The largest deliveries by the US airframer in July included nine 737 Max aircraft sent to United Airlines, seven Max jets to Southwest Airlines, and four Max to Ryanair. Net orders for Boeing during 2023 as of July jumped to 467 aircraft after the airframer factored in cancellations, conversions and the uncertainty of fulfilment. The Virginia-based airframer in 2023 has so far shipped 309 aircraft as it aims to reduce its backlog while increasing its monthly jet production rate. Boeing aims to increase the Max build rate to 42 per month when there is more stability in the market, with a goal of producing 50 Max jets per month by 2026. The airframer also aims to increase the monthly production rate for 787s from its current rate of four to five per month by the end of 2023 and to a monthly rate of 10 787s by 2026.
US carriers request extension of northeastern slot-usage waiver
August 17, 2023
US airlines have asked the Federal Aviation Administration to extend through 28 October its limited waiver of minimum slot-usage requirements at the New York area's JFK, LaGuardia and Newark airports and at Washington National. The FAA issued the notice on 22 March in order to give carriers "the ability to reduce operations during the peak summer travel period, which are likely to be exacerbated by the effects of air traffic controller (ATC) staffing shortfalls". The waiver is set to end 15 September. United Airlines, which operates a hub at Newark, cut back its schedule of flights connecting with New York area airports during the summer to ease the burden on understaffed ATC systems. The Chicago-based carrier also reduced summer frequencies at Washington National. US carriers have made the request for an extension via their trade group Airlines for America (A4A), which on 7 August sent a letter to the FAA. "The FAA's 'staffing related relief' notice acknowledged that the relief was granted based on post-pandemic effects of air traffic controller staffing at the New York Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) facility (N90) being 54% staffed," A4A writes in the letter. "The FAA has observed that unless carriers reduced their flight schedules, this staffing challenge would likely cause operational disruption until responsibility for the Newark airspace sector was moved to the Philadelphia TRACON." A4A notes in the letter that since the issuance of the waiver in March, responsibility for the Newark airspace sector has not been transferred to Philadelphia, and that staffing levels at N90 have not been meaningful improved. "Accordingly, in order to maintain operational integrity as FAA staffing shortages persist, we request that the FAA extend the notice through the end of the full Summer IATA Season [28 October]." A4A member airlines include United, American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Atlas Air, FedEx Express, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines and UPS.
Cathay to order 32 more A320neo family jets
August 17, 2023
Cathay Pacific plans to exercise purchase rights for 32 additional Airbus A321neos and A320neos that were part of an order placed in September 2017. The Oneworld carrier states in a Hong Kong stock exchange disclosure that it intends to exercise the options "on or before 30th September 2023". No details on the breakdown between the two variants Speaking during the airline's earnings call on 9 August, Cathay's chairman Patrick Healy added that the aircraft are "expected to be delivered by 2029 and will join the fleet of Cathay Pacific and HK Express". During the same call, chief operations and service delivery officer Alex McGowan clarified that deliveries of the additional aircraft would commence after mid-2025, which is when the last of its current firm orders will enter service. Chief executive Ronald Lam also confirmed that the airline has "not considered leasing" more narrowbody aircraft in the short-term, contrary to some recent media reports. Fleets data shows that Cathay has 12 A321neos in service and four more on order, while HK Express has one A321neo in service and 15 more on order. The budget carrier also has nine A320neos in service and one in storage. All of the group's A320neos and A321neos are powered by CFM International Leap-1A engines.