Airlines Need New Planes, but the Supply Chain Has Other Ideas
What’s the best way to travel? New planes are the key to the answer, but the biggest challenge facing the industry isn’t finding the right planes, it’s how to keep all the planes flying all the time.
The Department of Transportation is conducting a safety assessment of all commercial flights in the United States, and in the spring they’ll make a recommendation to the FAA about whether to allow the industry to use the Boeing 737 Max, which has been in service since March, indefinitely.
The problem, Boeing argues, is that airlines need the planes, and the demand is only likely to grow.
“This is a good opportunity to make sure there is a robust pipeline of high-quality aircraft for the foreseeable future,” the company said. “We fully support this assessment and will closely monitor the results to further inform the development of the Max family.”
But while keeping the planes flying is the problem, it’s the solution that is less clear.
The airlines are not the only ones investing in new planes. The Boeing 737 Max and its variants are expected to be the company’s most profitable planes ever, as airlines buy more.
The Max is a new, longer version of the 737 family. These aircraft have been in commercial production since 2003. A new model was introduced in 2011.
The 737-10 is the first new variant to be introduced in 20 years. The new model comes with a newly designed wing, which has been designed to produce fewer stalls and increased fuel efficiency. It also is equipped with the latest anti-ice technology.
The 737-Max has a maximum takeoff weight of 71,400 pounds, with a range of 8,300 nautical miles. The 737-10 goes up to 84,800 pounds. The Max will be able to take in passengers up to 85,000 pounds, with a range of 13,500 nautical miles.
The Max offers more than twice the range of its predecessor, the 737-800, and the wings now include new materials that make the planes more fuel efficient. The Max’s
