Virgin Atlantic reportedly plans to delay the delivery of a number of aircraft produced by French planemaker Airbus, according to a US leasing company.
During a recent earnings call hosted by LA-based Air Lease Corporation (ALC) it was reported that Virgin Atlantic has put a number of scheduled deliveries on the backburner.
While the lessor has no aircraft placed with Virgin at the present time, a handful of wide bodies were scheduled for delivery in the months to come.
As a minority shareholder in the London-based long-hauler, ALC has played an influential role in the airline’s restructuring.
Speaking at the earnings call presentation, CEO and president John Plueger stated, “We have no aircraft at that airline today. However, we do have wide body aircraft scheduled for future delivery through 2024.
“As such, ALC is fully participated in the restructuring, and we do expect those aircraft to deliver as planned as the airline deems our new aircraft integral to their recovery and environmental sustainability goals.”
Executive chairman Steven Udvar-Hazy said, “Some of our deliveries have been rescheduled. But most importantly, their direct buys were rescheduled to later time frames, which means the airline has to pay less in fee delivery deposits to Airbus, and therefore, they can protect their cash liquidity position.”
