News
Extended waiting times for delivery of new aircraft challenging planning
March 18th 2025
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said waiting times for new aircraft blew out to a record 5.3 years in 2024 because of supply chain challenges and production limitations. Read More » The long lead times compared with two to three years for the previous 30 years, IATA said. “It means airlines are only now receiving aircraft they ordered in 2019 or even before that date,” IATA said. “The global order backlog of 17,000 aircraft at the close of last year was the equivalent of 50% of the current fleet, well above the long-term trend of around one third,” the global airline lobby group said. “At current production levels, it will take 13.5 years to clear the existing backlog. Aircraft ordered today may not be delivered until near 2040, well beyond typical airline planning horizons. This makes short-term capacity planning extremely challenging and potentially could lead to inefficiencies and higher costs.” IATA said the short supply of new aircraft resulted in fleet utilization exceeding 8.5 hours a day last year, the highest average daily aircraft usage to be recorded.
