Industry Leader Warns in 2025 of Extended Tightness in Widebody Aircraft Supply

Global – Aengus Kelly, CEO of Aer Cap, the world’s largest aircraft leasing company, has warned that the global supply of widebody aircraft is “extraordinarily acute”, with both Airbus and Boeing unlikely to exceed their previous widebody production peaks this decade. The remarks were made during an analyst call on Wednesday, underscoring growing concern across the aviation sector about constrained availability of long-haul aircraft.

• Kelly noted that widebody output in 2024 remained below levels achieved more than a decade ago, saying: “Both OEMs produced more widebody aircraft in 2008 than they did last year, and I do not expect them to surpass the peak of 2016 this decade.”
• The tight supply environment is being driven by production bottlenecks, supplier challenges, and slower-than-expected recovery in manufacturing cadence following the pandemic.
• Airbus’s A350 and A330neo, and Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner and 777X, remain the most in-demand widebody programs, but deliveries have been limited by long lead times and capacity constraints at both manufacturers.

Source: Aer Cap