Low-cost United States carrier Allegiant expects fewer aircraft deliveries from Boeing in 2024, amid the American aviation giant grappling with the fallout of a January 2024 incident where a cabin panel tore off of a 737 MAX 9 jet, operated by Alaska Airlines, mid-flight.
The Las Vegas-based airline was scheduled to receive 24 MAX planes in 2024, but Allegiant President Greg Anderson told Reuters that the business was now working on the assumption that it would receive closer to 12 aircraft this year.
The planemaker has been facing regulatory heat over its aircraft’s safety and quality since the Alaska Airlines incident. Boeing’s passenger jet production rate has been capped, with American lawmakers and customers (including the global ones) closely scrutinising every move of the aviation giant.
In 2022, Allegiant placed an order for 50 of Boeing’s 737 MAX planes, rejecting offers from its traditional supplier Airbus. It was scheduled to take delivery of 10 of the jets in 2023, 24 in 2024, and 16 in 2025.
Allegiant, which is known for relying on less expensive second-hand planes, was expected to launch new routes and reduce its operating costs by inducting the MAX series jets. As per Anderson, the American ultra-low-cost carrier has yet to receive its first MAX aircraft.
Meanwhile, the head of the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has asked Boeing to develop a comprehensive action plan to address “systemic quality-control issues” within 90 days, thereby putting the planemaker’s hopes of increasing its aircraft production capacity in more jeopardy.
As per the reports, the FAA head demanded the plan in a statement critical of the planemaker following an all-day meeting with CEO Dave Calhoun on February 27, 2024.
“Boeing must commit to real and profound improvements. Making a foundational change will require a sustained effort from Boeing’s leadership, and we are going to hold them accountable every step of the way, with mutually understood milestones and expectations,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said after the meeting.
Responding to it, Calhoun said in a statement that Boeing’s leadership team was “totally committed” to addressing FAA concerns and developing the plan.
Whitaker said Boeing’s plan must incorporate forthcoming results of the FAA production-line audit and findings from an expert review panel report. The report, which had been commissioned in 2023, was highly critical of the company’s safety management processes, saying Boeing suffered from “inadequate and confusing implementation of the components of a positive safety culture.”
Boeing has removed Ed Clark, the head of its 737 MAX programme, as part of a management shakeup. FAA now is demanding Boeing to improve its Safety Management System (SMS) programme, which it committed to in 2019 and combine it with a Quality Management System to “create a measurable, systemic shift in manufacturing quality control.”
The 737 MAX production delays have prompted Allegiant to reactivate a few of its used Airbus A320s that it was planning to retire to boost capacity during summer peak flying season.
Allegiant plans to boost capacity by 2% to 6% in 2024 from a year ago, and the reactivation of older jets means the delays “shouldn’t impact our capacity plans,” Anderson stated further.
Customers Feel The Pinch
Ryanair, in February 2024 said the European carrier might have to remove some flights from its summer schedule because of Boeing’s delivery delays.
The cap on MAX production has also raised concerns at Southwest Airlines, one of Boeing’s loyal customers, as per the Reuters report. The Dallas-based airline previously said it expected to receive 79 MAX jets in 2024. If Boeing fails to deliver all those jets, the company could be forced to defer the retirements of some of its older and less fuel-efficient planes.
United Airlines too was looking to mix some additional Airbus products into its “Boeing heavy fleet” and extend the life of some planes that were ready to retire.
While Anderson said that the safety culture of the American aviation giant had “rightfully been brought into focus,” Allegiant is using its own experts as well as engineers from Lufthansa’s aircraft maintenance business, “Lufthansa Technik,” to ensure that the planes leaving Boeing’s factory are of “the quality and standard they need to be.”