In what could be an early blow to the busy summer travel season, United Airlines has asked its pilots to take unpaid leave in May, citing delayed aircraft deliveries from Boeing.
“We can confirm that due to the recent delays in Boeing deliveries, our forecasted block hours for 2024 have been reduced, and we are offering our pilots voluntary programs for the month of May to reduce excess staffing,” the airline said in an April 1 statement.
The Air Line Pilots Association, the labor union representing United’s pilots, said further time off may be offered “for the summer bid periods and potentially into the fall.”
In a memo sent on March 29, the union noted that deliveries are directly affecting United’s Boeing 737 and 787 fleets, but the impact “will affect other fleets as well.”
United has yet to announce any specific changes to its summer flight lineup. In January, the company said it would add more than 100 daily departures during the summer of 2024, citing a post-COVID rebound of interest in air travel.
Boeing has been facing heightened scrutiny since the Jan. 5 incident when a door plug blew off an almost brand-new 737 MAX 9 at about 16,000 feet over Oregon. The mid-flight failure has prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to bar the jetliner maker from expanding production of 737 MAX, its best-selling product.
United was contracted to receive 43 Max 8s and 34 Max 9s this year, but now expects to receive 37 and 19, respectively. It had expected Boeing would also hand over 80 Max 10 models this year and 71 next year, only to eventually remove them from the delivery schedule because it was “unable to accurately forecast the expected delivery period.”
According to a staff memo sent in early March, United would not be able to keep up with its growth plans due to continued delays at Boeing.
“We had contractual deliveries for 80 MAX 10s this year alone, but those aircraft aren’t even certified yet and it is impossible to know when they will arrive,” read the memo from Marc Champion, vice president of flight operations, and Kirk Limacher, vice president for human resources.
Scott Kirby, the chief executive of United, has been vocal about his disappointment with Boeing. Following January’s 737 Max door-plug blowout, Mr. Kirby said he was looking to change the order plans as deliveries get “pushed further and further to the right.”
“We’re Boeing’s biggest customer in the world. We need Boeing to succeed,” Mr. Kirby said in an interview with CNBC. “I have a lot of confidence in the people: great mechanics, great engineers, great history. But they’re having these consistent manufacturing challenges and they need to take action.”
United is not the only commercial airline that has grown frustrated with Boeing’s delivery delays.
Southwest Airlines, which currently operates a massive all-Boeing fleet including 227 737 Maxs and 591 older 737 Next Gens, said last month that the uncertainty surrounding its sole aircraft supplier is forcing it to reevaluate “all prior full-year 2024 guidance, including the expectation for capital spending.” The company has also placed a hiring freeze on new pilots, flight attendants, and other employees.
“Boeing needs to become a better company,” Bob Jordan, Southwest Airlines’ chief executive, said during an investor call.
“I, and I know other CEOs, have told Boeing, get your issues understood and get the issues fixed,” Mr. Jordan said. “Because we all need Boeing to be stronger two years from now, five years from now, 10 years from now.”
Alaska Airlines, which was at the center of January’s aviation plight, has said it stands to be impacted throughout this year by Boeing’s ongoing quality control and production issues.
“Full-year capacity expectations are still 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,” it told the Securities and Exchange Commission in a March 12 filing.
Boeing, meanwhile, is still grappling with the fallout of the 737 Max blowout that made national deadlines. As part of a broad management shakeup, Boeing chief executive Dave Calhoun last week announced he would step down at the end of the year along with the company’s board chairman and the the commercial airplanes department head.
