Supply chain disruption spreads to air freight after Boeing 737 blowout
Supply chains face a further disruption, this time from air freight, after the US grounded a fleet of Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft
Experts have warned that supply chains using air freight may be impacted by the recent grounding of Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft in the US, which can carry up to five tons of cargo each. International delivery company ParcelHero said “the timing of the incident could not be worse”, following severe disruption to shipping supplies between Europe and Asia.
“Shippers using both the Suez and Panama canals currently face considerable delays and issues, so some companies had turned to the increased use of air freight to bypass these problems,” said David Jinks, head of consumer research at ParcelHero.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded the US fleet of 171 Max 9s on Saturday following a blowout on an Alaska Airlines passenger jet. Other countries using the aircraft installed with the same door plug are also checking for faults. The planes are operated by Fly Dubai, Iceland Air, Indonesia’s Lion Air, Kazakhstan’s SCAT, Air Mexico, Panama’s Copa Airlines and Turkish Airlines, as well as Alaska Airlines and United Airlines in the US.
“The grounding of many Max 9 aircraft will have an impact on global freight and parcels. International goods and packages are not only flown in specially designed cargo aircraft. Many passenger aircraft, including the 737 Max 9, are equipped with dedicated cargo holds to safely transport freight and small parcels,” Jinks said.
He warned that taking the Max 9s out of service will have a knock-on effect, particularly for services to and from the US. “Cancelled services, or the substitution of these aircraft by other types of planes with potentially smaller cargo capacity, will cause delays to deliveries and have the potential to increase rates,” he said.
Jinks added that the grounding could yet be extended to other forms of Max 9. “There could be more severe consequences for air cargo,” he warned. “The FAA is currently saying it won’t be rushed into announcing a date when these planes will be permitted to fly again.”
