Allegiant Air Faces 737 MAX Delay

Allegiant is joining the long list of carriers impacted by delays to the 737 MAX.

The airline based in the United States is now preparing for a delay to its initial forecast for first delivery.

Delays Inbound For Allegiant

The first delivery for the 737 MAX to Allegiant Air has now been delayed through to 2024 following an earnings call for the third quarter.

Following the latest update, the expectation is the carrier’s first MAX 8-200 will arrive sometime in the early stages of 2024.

Ultimately, this is later than initially expected for the US-based airline that operates low-cost missions across an expansive network.

Updated guidance follows initial expectations that delivery could be achieved before year’s end. However, while this guidance came only a matter of months ago, much has changed since.

Boeing Adjusts Its Own 737 MAX Forecast

Boeing had initially targeted 400 to 450 deliveries for the 2023 calendar year for its 737 MAX program.

However, thanks to persistent issues with the program and partner companies, it recently revised its forecast. As a result, the total was brought down towards 375 to 400 deliveries.

Notably, therefore, carriers expecting their aircraft towards the end of the year would likely see their deliveries slip into 2024, as this is the case for Allegiant.

Allegiant Adjusts Boeing 737 MAX Order

In October, Allegiant quietly adjusted an existing order for the 737 MAX by converting units and adding options.

The airline converted some 737-7s towards the larger and higher capacity 737-8-200s, a popular variant with Ryanair.

Additionally, the airline added 30 options for 737 MAX aircraft should it wish to activate them in the future.

Interestingly, even at the beginning of October, the airline reported that delivery for the first MAX was still scheduled for late 2023.