Airplane shortage and record summer travel mean higher prices
Summer travel is expected to soar to record highs, but a potential shortage of planes looms on the horizon.
If you're already booking your summer travel, you're not alone. A record number of Americans are expected to fly somewhere this summer, but even with more customers, some airlines say they have fewer planes than they need.
"That's leaving airlines really bracing to make sure that they can handle that onrush of travel demand," said Scott Keyes, the founder of Scott’s Cheap Flights.
U.S. airlines this year are expected to receive 40% fewer planes than they planned for last year, according to industry group Aerodynamic Advisory.
That is not good news for flight prices or your travel budget.
"From a consumer standpoint, with demand strong and supply relatively weak, that's a recipe for higher airfares," explained Richard Aboulafia, flight industry expert and director of AeroDynamic Advisory.
United Airlines and Southwest have paused hiring, and United is even offering their pilots unpaid leave.
Alaska Airlines, along with Southwest, are calling their "capacity forecasts uncertain," and many airlines point directly to Boeing's 737 max production delays.
The aviation giant is facing quality control scrutiny and is under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration after a door plug blowout in January.
Boeing's number of airplane deliveries sank to 83 in the latest quarter compared to 157 for the one prior.
"You've got this effort to return to 2019 levels of jetliner production for the world's two jetliner producers, Airbus and Boeing," explained Aboulafia. "Airbus is getting there, Boeing is stumbling pretty badly."
Brian West, Boeing's CFO, said last month, "We're deliberately going to slow to get this right, and we're the ones who made the decision to constrain rates on the 737 program."
The issues come on the brink of sky-high travel demand following a record-setting year for TSA travel numbers.
"It means higher prices," Keyes said. "Fewer aircraft means not only higher prices, but also planes that are going to be more full than they would otherwise be."
Experts say airlines now have just months left to course-correct before summer travel takes off.
