Boeing 737 jetliner deliveries to be at low end of 2023 target, says CFO Brian West

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Bloomberg. The delay in deliveries is most likely to create an issue for Indian aviation firms like Air India and Akasa Air which are waiting for plane deliveries. Chief Financial Officer Brian West said at an investor conference on Thursday that narrowbody handovers will be near the bottom of Boeing’s goal of shipping 400 to 450 of the popular 737 jets this year.

ALSO READ: Boeing says deliveries of some 737 MAX planes to be delayed; Air India and Akasa Air may be impacted Adding more, he said that profit margins for both – commercial and defense units – of the company will be negative in the third quarter as it grapples with supply-chain disruptions. Earlier in August, the aviation titan disclosed some holes in 737 bulkheads that help maintain cabin pressure were improperly drilled by supplier Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc.

West said that the firm found out it may take longer to address the aft-pressure bulkhead issue than an earlier Spirit issue involving brackets used to attach the 737’s vertical fin to the main fuselage. He added mechanics are inspecting and repairing hundreds of drilled holes per jet.

Despite Boeing's masses resources to deal with the quality lapse, it expects to hit its free cash flow goals for this year and a longer-term target of generating $10 billion annually by mid-decade. In August, Boeing delivered just 22 of its 737 jets and expects to ship about 70 during the third quarter due to the pressure-bulkhead issue, West said.

He added, that about three-quarters of the 220 undelivered single-aisle jets that were in storage at Boeing as of the end of June may be affected, and the repairs are complicated for completed aircraft. With agency inputs.