As travel roars back post Covid-19 lull, airlines face shortage of planes

As travel springs back and even China dismantles the last remaining Covid curbs, one stark truth is beginning to emerge — the world is running desperately short of planes. 

With carriers from United Airlines Holdings Inc. to Air India Ltd. placing, or looking to place, jet orders that number in the hundreds, Boeing Co. and Airbus SE are crowing variously about blockbuster deals. But supply chain constraints mean those planes won’t be delivered until possibly years down the track — Jefferies LLC estimates there’s an order backlog of 12,720 aircraft currently.

All that means the sky-high airfares that people have