Southwest Airlines reduces expected Boeing deliveries amid ongoing production delays

Boeing's production issues have been compounded by various incidents this year. In January, following an incident involving Alaska Airlines' Boeing 737 MAX 9, the Federal Aviation Administration limited MAX production to 38 planes per month. The company also faced setbacks due to a strike in September, which disrupted plans despite efforts to improve manufacturing quality and leadership changes.

In October, Boeing delivered only 14 aircraft across different models and anticipates several weeks before resuming full production capacity. Kelly Ortberg, Boeing's CEO, stated during an earnings call: "Our safety and quality management system will guide us through the restart, and we have a detailed return to work plan in place."

Other airlines have also felt the impact of these delays. Alaska Airlines had to postpone plans for new routes due to delivery issues. Similarly, Ryanair attributed part of its H1 profit decline to delayed deliveries and adjusted its passenger growth projections accordingly. Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary noted: "The risk of further delivery delays remains high, particularly for [summer 2025], and it is in that context that we think it is sensible now to slow down our projected traffic growth next year from 215 million to 210 million passengers."