Virgin Australia’s new Boeing aircraft have been delayed according to reports, as Boeing faces manufacturing delays.
Virgin placed an order for 13 MAX 8s. Of those, 4 have already arrived and Virgin had been expecting most of the remaining 9 Boeing 737 MAX 8s to come later this year.
However, just 4 of the aircraft are likely to arrive this year according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald. The final delivery date has now been reportedly been pushed out to 2025.
Similarly, Virgin’s order for 25 Boeing MAX 10s has also been delayed. Due to commence arriving next year, this has allegedly been pushed back to the 2026 financial year.
“We have been advised by Boeing there will be a delay to the delivery of some 737 Max-8 aircraft, and we are working to minimise impacts to our schedule,” a spokesperson told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Boeing has faced intense scrutiny after a run of incidents involving its aircraft. Following a door blowout in early January on a 737 Max 9 aircraft, the FAA has been heavily scrutinising Boeing’s operations.
In the last couple of weeks the bad run of incidents have continued for Boeing, including:
A panel was discovered missing on a United 737 aircraft
A United 737 MAX rolled off a runway in Houston
A Boeing 777 lost a tire while taking off at Los Angeles airport
It’s important for Virgin that they receive their new aircraft as soon as possible. With the airline battling to improve its on-time performance, having some additional spare capacity would be of great assistance.