As travel springs back and even China dismantles the last remaining COVID-19 curbs, one stark truth is beginning to emerge — the world is running desperately short of planes.
With carriers from United Airlines Holdings to Air India placing, or looking to place, jet orders that number in the hundreds, Boeing and Airbus are crowing variously about blockbuster deals. But supply chain constraints mean those planes won’t be delivered until possibly years down the track — Jefferies estimates there’s an order backlog of 12,720 aircraft currently.
All that means the sky-high airfares that people have complained bitterly about over the past few months are here to stay, and things could get worse before they get better.