Aircraft Delivery Delays Killing Lufthansa

Lufthansa continues to be vocal about the impact of aircraft delivery delays, which the airline executives have spoken about several times in recent months.

In new comments, the CEO said that the delivery delays are hurting the airline beyond belief, with hundreds of millions expected to cost the airline upwards of 500 million euros yearly.

Lufthansa has been attempting to revamp its operations by introducing more fuel-efficient aircraft from Airbus and Boeing. However, the airline’s plans to formally welcome these new aircraft have been significantly more challenging than expected.

As aircraft manufacturers battled the global pandemic and supply chain issues, among many other difficulties, they could not deliver new aircraft on time.

Worse still, the delays are continuing to balloon, and now Lufthansa is warning that all these delivery delays won’t be resolved this decade. This is a stark warning sign of what’s ahead for airlines battling something similar and seeing no end in their problems.

Lufthansa is looking to introduce aircraft such as the 777X, A350, A320neo family, and 787, among others, and all these aircraft have relevant delays. Furthermore, the broader Group wants to implement the A220 for its newly launched City Airlines. Airbus has admitted that this aircraft is also behind on production and deliveries.

While delivery delays are the catalyst for many of these aircraft orders just for Lufthansa, the impact of the 777X certification, which has yet to arrive, must also be considered. Lufthansa was expecting this aircraft in 2021/2022 and has most recently adjusted its expectations to a mid-2026 entry into service.

While the 777X delays are out of the ordinary because of certification struggles, they are a prime example of the hurt that Lufthansa faces. The airline has to mitigate the significant capacity loss and efficiency loss caused by its inability to take on these planes by retaining older, less fuel-efficient aircraft.

Furthermore, retaining these older aircraft has more associated risks and complexities, such as the consistent need to maintain them at a higher cost and level than brand-new jets.

Ultimately, Lufthansa’s public frustrations only came days after Airbus lowered its delivery forecasts in 2024 by 30 units to 770. Airbus knew it could not attain the figure initially publicly disclosed because of the same issues Lufthansa is publicly discussing.