Cathay delays jets; Qantas bids farewell to 747
Empty airports have airlines asking how many jets they really need.
Cathay Pacific is the latest to bite the bullet.
On Wednesday (July 21) the Hong Kong carrier said it had reached agreement with Airbus to delay taking new planes.
It will postpone deliveries of widebody A350s, and smaller A321neos.
The airline says that will produce significant cash savings over the short and medium term.
It’s also in talks with Boeing over delaying delivery of new 777 jets.
Cathay has 21 of the latest model on order.
Airbus and Boeing both declined to comment on the reports.
But both are battling with their customers over what to do about existing orders.
Reuters sources say they’re pressing airlines to at least take jets that have already been built, in return for agreement to defer future deliveries.
Meanwhile airlines are also moving fast to retire older jets.
Earlier this month British Airways said it would retire all its Boeing 747 jumbo jets with immediate effect.
On Wednesday Qantas too bade farewell to its last 747.
Both carriers had operated the plane for around 50 years.
Right now though, few airlines have enough passengers to fill anything quite so big.
