U.S. planemaker Boeing has raised its 20-year forecast for jetliner deliveries by 3 percent, predicting 43,975 deliveries, driven by robust passenger demand, heightened airline competition, and the eventual replacement of older, less efficient planes.
The aviation industry, which suffered during the Covid-19 pandemic with a sharp decline in air travel, has since rebounded strongly, causing firms to grapple with labor and parts shortages and other supply chain issues.
“This is a challenging and inspiring era for aviation. The return to more typical traffic growth shows how resilient our industry is, even as we all work through ongoing supply chain and production constraints amid other global challenges,” said Brad McMullen, Boeing senior vice president of Commercial Sales and Marketing.
Boeing expects demand for commercial services valued at $4.4 trillion ─ driven by maintenance and modification options and digital solutions that increase efficiency.
Both Boeing and Airbus are striving to meet the significant demand, with airlines facing multi-year waits for new airplanes, Reuters news report said. Boeing’s updated forecast, released ahead of the Farnborough Air Show outside London, suggests that the need for new planes will continue to grow through 2043.
Darren Hulst, Boeing’s vice president of commercial marketing, noted that retirement rates of older airplanes have halved over the past four years due to the scarcity of new aircraft. He anticipates this issue will be resolved in the medium to long term as supply constraints ease.
Boeing projects that single-aisle airplanes will constitute 33,380 deliveries, or 76 percent of the forecasted demand. The forecast also includes 8,065 widebody planes, 1,525 regional jets, and 1,005 freighters.
Approximately half of these new jet deliveries will replace older models, while the other half will expand airlines’ fleets. The global aircraft fleet is expected to nearly double from 26,750 jets in 2023 to 50,170 by 2043. Additionally, Boeing has raised its industry-wide passenger traffic forecast growth rate to 4.7 percent.
Boeing has also faced safety concerns since January, following an in-flight emergency involving an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9. The Federal Aviation Administration has restricted Boeing from expanding 737 MAX production until it is assured of the company’s quality and safety improvements.
InfotechLead.com News Desk
