Check out how Trouble at Boeing May Affect the Budget for Your Next Trip

Plagued by technical faults leading to tragedies and bogged down by production delays, Boeing struggling to deliver aircraft, which might have an impact on the cost of flying and the quantity of flights that are accessible to passengers. Due to complications that arose following an emergency on an Alaska Airlines aircraft in January, they are experiencing difficulties assembling planes on schedule.

Backlog of Orders for 737 Max Aircraft

Based on information provided by Boeing, by the end of February, 4,800 orders had been placed for a type of aircraft that Boeing had not yet produced, known as the 737 Max. Orders from airlines such as American, Delta, Ryanair, Southwest, and United are included in this. The precise date of these planes' arrival has not been disclosed by Boeing. During this year's first two months, Boeing delivered 42 of these 737 Max planes.

An expert on airlines, Henry Harteveldt, believes that rather than reducing current flights, airlines may not be able to add as many new flights as they would have liked for the summer. Passengers as well as airlines may be disappointed by this, as passengers may have fewer flying alternatives and airlines may not profit as much.

United and Southwest refused to comment on their ticket rates in public. The increasing demand from travelers can cause a surge in ticket costs even if aircraft are delivered on schedule. At the same time, since fewer aircraft are being produced and fuel prices are still high, flying will probably get much more expensive.

Impact on summer flights

"Airlines are suggesting that many people want to travel this summer, which could mean higher airfares anyway," said Harteveldt. "But when airlines don't have all the planes they planned to have, they might need to raise prices more than they would have otherwise."

On the bright side for consumers, low-cost airlines like Breeze, Spirit, and Velo are growing. "These airlines offer cheaper fares compared to the bigger airlines," Harteveldt added.

Potential price increases

Obert Mann of R.W. Mann & Company, an airline advisory firm, stated that production problems had caused disruptions to carriers' plans for the second half of the year. These issues will particularly impact Southwest Airlines, which only flies Boeing 737s. The airline is unable to increase the number of flights it offers since it does not expect to get the 86 Boeing aircraft it ordered this year.

In contrast to what Southwest had originally anticipated, this circumstance will probably result in fewer seats being available in the second half of the year. The price of tickets may increase as a result of this abrupt reduction in capacity. He believes that there will be fewer flights available for domestic travel as well as to neighboring foreign locations like the Caribbean and Mexico.

The Airline Reporting Corporation reports that in February, ticket costs increased by almost 6%. Mann predicts that in some circumstances, prices may increase by as much as 10%. For example, this increase amounts to about $57 extra per ticket at an average rate of $573. It might be an extra $230 for a household of four.