9 December 2025 (Geneva) – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) updated its analysis of aerospace supply chain bottlenecks noting that aircraft availability remains one of the most significant constraints on industry growth in its just released global outlook.
While deliveries of new aircraft began to pick up in late 2025 and production is expected to accelerate in 2026, demand is forecast to outstrip the availability of aircraft and engines. The normalization of the structural mismatch between airline requirements and production capacity is unlikely before 2031-2034 due to irreversible losses on deliveries over the past five years and a record-high order backlog.
“Airlines are feeling the impact of the aerospace supply chain challenges <a href="https://jordangazette.com/enjoy-seamless-mobility-across-the-uae-with-yango-drive/”>across their business. Higher leasing costs, reduced scheduling flexibility, delayed sustainability gains and increased reliance on suboptimal aircraft types are the most obvious challenges. Airlines are missing opportunities to strengthen their top-line, improve their environmental performance and serve customers. Meanwhile travelers are seeing higher costs from the resulting tighter demand/supply conditions. No effort should be spared to accelerate solutions before the impact becomes even more acute,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.
As production bottlenecks continue, new challenges and impacts are being revealed:
Delivery delays are compounded by several factors, including:
Fuel efficiency improvements are slowing as the fleet ages. Historically, fuel efficiency improved by 2.0% per year, but this slowed to 0.3% in 2025 and is projected at 1.0% for 2026.
The situation for the air cargo fleet risks evolving:
A recent study by IATA and Oliver Wymann estimated that the cost to the airline industry of supply chain bottlenecks will be more than USD 11 billion in 2025, driven by four main factors:
To help expedite solutions, the study pointed to several considerations:
