Because spare parts and new aircraft are missing, many airlines are currently unable to expand their offerings.
The managing director of the international umbrella organization of airlines accuses the aircraft and engine manufacturers of not taking care of solving the problems.
However, the situation is not all bad for the airlines: due to the scarce supply, they can demand higher ticket prices.
After the restrictions and cancellations during the pandemic years stands the aviation industry before the next problem: the supply of spare parts and components by the manufacturers is faltering, so many airplanes have to stay on the ground or not be delivered at all.
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A delivery that is six months late now counts as on time
Practically every plane is currently delayed because some part is always missing, the reports “Southgerman newspaper” (SZ). Hundreds of aircraft are not operational due to missing components.
The chief economist of the international aviation association IATA, Marie Owens Thomsen, told the “SZ”: “If an aircraft is delivered six months late, we now consider it to be on time.” According to the report, engines from the US company Pratt & Whitney, among other things Airbus supplied.
Manufacturers do not care about the problems
The managing director of IATA, Willie Walsh, was even clearer. He addressed his complaints explicitly to the Airplane– and engine manufacturers. He told the “SZ” that the airlines were more than frustrated by the constant problems.
It is becoming more and more common for individual engine components to have to be replaced much earlier than usual, even though they should actually function without problems for years. He added: “A solution must be found”.
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Airlines can charge high ticket prices
Also the Lufthansa is affected by these problems. According to “SZ”, it is currently only flying around 80 percent of the capacity it offered before the pandemic and cannot expand its range either.
However, they benefited airlines also from a low supply with high demand at the same time. This allows them to enforce high ticket prices. That should be fine for many after the crisis of the past few years. Hardly anyone would currently come up with the idea of offering additional flights that would depress the price level. So flying could remain expensive for a while.
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