Boeing HQ
The holidays brought a hiatus for the Daily Boeing, and a relatively quiet news week. The seat shortage is causing Lufthansa to operate new aircraft without their new business class seats on board the aircraft. COMAC is making a push in Asia, Indigo is wet leasing Boeing 787s from Norse for international operations, and Boeing has begun to recover after one of the worst years in its storied history.
Lufthansa has been planning a business class upgrade for some time, and its new Allegris Business Class concepts have already been installed on some aircraft. However shortages and certification issues in the US are holding back the new seats for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, resulting in the airline having to take delivery of new aircraft without business class being installed.
The Allegris business class seats for the A350 are made by Thompson Aero and EASA certified, while the 787 seats are made by Collins and failed a second FAA-mandated crash test. As a result, Lufthansa has 12 new Boeing 787 aircraft ready to go, with another 8 in the works, with First and Economy offerings but no business class installed. Scheduled to replace old and fuel inefficient A340s, they are now considering operating the aircraft without business class seats until the problems can be resolved and the aircraft retrofitted.
China’s COMAC is looking for international customers, and sees a potential breakthrough in Southeast Asia, focusing on Indonesia and Cambodia with new campaigns. While COMAC lacks the international aftermarket support offered by Airbus and Boeing, it is growing its capabilities and would likely implement new parts and maintenance operations close to its first international customers.
While Airbus and Boeing are not worried in the near term, they are taking COMAC seriously, as over the next decade the company will expand both is production rate and support capabilities. Ten years from now, they could become a part of most competitions, particularly in Asia. Vietnam is also reportedly a potential target for the Shanghai-based company, which recently opened international sales offices in Hong Kong and Singapore.
IndiGo is looking to expand internationally and will wet lease six Norse Atlantic Boeing 787 aircraft for long-haul operations. There have been reports of a pending wet-lease deal with Norse for several months, and it now appears that IndiGo is that customer. Wet leases were previously not permitted in India, but the aircraft shortage has resulted in DGCA changing its rules to enable them.
The Norse Atlantic aircraft are Boeing 787-9 models, configured with 56 premium economy and 282 economy seats for a total of 338. With IndiGo an LCC, we are unlikely to see a business class installed in the near term.
IndiGo does have 30 Airbus A350s on order, but those aircraft will not arrive before 2027. Similarly, the carrier has orders for 69 A321XLR that will begin deliveries in 2025 and potentially open new longer-haul markets into Europe.
Finally, data do show that Boeing has begun to recover from its multiple issues in 2024. While the company is certainly not out of the woods yet, and has a long way to go, early indicators are turning positive. The question now is whether than momentum can be kept up, and whether management is trying to grow production rates faster than the supply chain can deliver safe and high quality products. Boeing can’t afford another year like 2024.
Links to key news follow:
- Lufthansa to operate its new B787 Dreamliner without Allegris Business Class – eTurboNews
- Comac charm offensive sees it court Indonesia, Cambodia airlines – BNN Bloomberg
- Indigo to wet lease Boeing 787, eyes London and Paris flights – Aviation A2Z
- Tracking Boeing’s recovery – yes it is happening – AirInsight
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