Boeing delays; AirTran and Obama; Southwest’s ambitions

Published 8:36 am Wednesday, November 19, 2008

The Boeing Co. is tacking on 10 weeks to the deliveries of its 3,734 jets on order as a result of the Machinists strike, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Citing “people familiar with the situation” the publication says that Boeing won’t try to make up for any eight weeks lost due to the Machinists’ work stoppage. And, giving itself room for production ramp up after the strike, Boeing will push back deliveries to all its commercial jet customers by 10 weeks.

The company isn’t expected to give a full update on the impact of the Machinists’ strike until next month.

In airline news this morning, AirTran Airways is capitalizing on the fervor surrounding President-elect Barack Obama. The airline says it will add flights into Washington D.C. for Obama’s inauguration in January due to increased interest in travel to the nation’s capital.

“We’ve had tremendous requests for flights to Washington D.C. during the period surrounding the presidential inauguration and we want to accommodate our customers by adding flights to meet the demand,” said Kevin Healy, senior vice president of marketing and planning for AirTran Airways, in a statement.

AirTran will have to relinquish its routes to New York’s LaGuardia after Southwest Airlines buys the rights (that AirTran has been leasing) from bankrupt ATA, reports Bloomberg.

The LaGuardia spots may give the Dallas, Texas-based Southwest Airlines the spots it needs to add flights to Latin America and the Caribbean, one aviation told Bloomberg.

Southwest already has announced its ambitions to expand, making recent alliances to gain access to Mexico and Canada. The airline’s ambitions could be good news for Boeing:

With an all-Boeing Co. 737 fleet, Southwest would have to modify its existing planes for over-water flights to closer international destinations and add a second aircraft type for longer routes.