Lufthansa 787 Bad News

The bad news continues for Lufthansa, now with fresh developments surrounding 787 acquisition efforts.

The German flag-carrier is now in a position where it’ll be forced to encounter further delays in the acquisition of Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners.

In this case, the delays are not necessarily central to Boeing’s production woes but rather with the US government shutdown impacting acquisition efforts as of the end of this month, out of Frankfurt.

Several airlines had already warned that the US government shutdown, which initially did not appear to impact their operations, would eventually affect their operations if the challenges persisted.

Lufthansa is choosing to blame the US Government for what is taking place, which is central to the delayed certification of seats impacting its ability to rebuild and take the next step in renewal efforts across the business.

Not only are these inbound Boeing 787s important for growth, but they also come equipped with the all-new Allegris seats, a bid to elevate customer satisfaction levels and, as a full-service carrier, restore pride in travellers.

However, because the Boeing 787 aircraft are produced in the United States, including the installation of seats, which requires approvals, there have been numerous delays in obtaining the necessary approvals.

As a result, for those planes that have been delivered, the airline is unable to sell customers specific seats in its business class until it receives approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

What this means is that Lufthansa will not make as much money as it could be doing aboard these aircraft, with parts of its higher cabin classes effectively being blocked and impacting its finances and turnaround efforts.

All this is happening because the FAA employees who work on aspects of approval are not showing up for duty due to the shutdowns.

Lufthansa is awaiting many new Boeing 787s; this has been an issue for some time, with more than a dozen jets awaiting their delivery time, but that is at risk of ballooning further.

Ultimately, Lufthansa may feel that the shutdown will only add a slight delay to the timeframe expected for the jets; however, the reality is that this has been ongoing for some time now and has harmed the airline in more ways than one.

The New Aircraft

Lufthansa took delivery of its new state-of-the-art 787 at the end of August, with the aircraft arriving in Frankfurt as part of an effort to overhaul the brand.

What made this 787 special was that it was the first to feature the new Allegris product for Frankfurt operations. The 787 also marked the beginning of a new wave of deliveries, exceeding the total expected for the next four months.

According to the forecast at the end of August, the airline was hopeful of receiving nine new 787s by the end of the 2025 calendar year, which would equate to a new Dreamliner every two weeks.

With hundreds of thousands already having had the chance to experience Allegris across long-haul flights from Munich, the 787’s addition to Frankfurt operations presents an opportunity for greater harmony across the business.

Long-Standing Lufthansa Problems

Unfortunately, Lufthansa’s most recent delay and struggles with the Boeing 787 come as no surprise, as the flag carrier has experienced its fair share of fleet struggles in recent times.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lufthansa opted to retire some of its older aircraft types from its fleet, as demand dropped and the aircraft showed signs of age. The flag carrier believed it was the perfect time to move ahead with renewal.

While Lufthansa would follow in the footsteps of many other global carriers doing something similar, none would expect demand to return as quickly as it did, and certainly not with the associated supply chain struggles.

Whether it has been next-generation aircraft, such as single-aisle or wide-body models like the 787 or A350, no aircraft has been spared from the supply chain constraints that have impacted the industry.

Ultimately, this does not even factor in the persistent delays in the acquisition efforts of the high-capacity Boeing 777X, which is still intended to play a role in growth and renewal efforts but has yet to be delivered.

As a result, Lufthansa has returned older planes to service that now would’ve long been in the scrap yard had deliveries panned out as expected; these complicated deliveries have hurt Lufthansa in more ways than one.