If it’s Boeing, airlines aren’t going

Airlines have gone from dishing out delays to being forced to deal with a wait themselves (my, my, my how the turntables).

Southwest Airlines yesterday announced that it’ll have to trim flight capacity, reduce hiring, and reevaluate its financial forecasts for the year due to jet delivery delays from Boeing, which has been under heavy regulatory scrutiny following an incident in January where the door blew off one of its planes in midair.

Southwest isn’t the only one with issues. Other airlines are also plane plain beefing with Boeing:

• Alaska Airlines said in a filing yesterday that its 2024 flight capacity is “in flux due to uncertainty around the timing of aircraft deliveries as a result of increased Federal Aviation Administration and Department of Justice scrutiny on Boeing and its operations.”
• Ryanair earlier this month said it'll be transporting 5 million fewer passengers than expected this fiscal year due to manufacturing delays with Boeing's 737 Max 8 plane.
• United told staff last week that it has to pause pilot hiring this spring because of late-arriving aircraft from Boeing.

These manufacturing delays don't have a quick and easy fix. Heavy backlogs make it hard for airlines to shift orders to rival Airbus, the only other large commercial aircraft manufacturer globally, Reuters reports.

👀 Looking ahead… On February 28, the FAA gave Boeing 90 days to come up with a plan to fix quality control issues and meet safety standards for building planes.

+CORRECTION: This article previously stated that Ryanair would operate 5 million fewer flights this fiscal year instead of 5 million fewer passengers.