Will JetBlue pick up Virgin America's slack?
 

I wouldn't be surprised at all if JetBlue picks up Virgin Americas 20 A320's that they wont be receiving.

This is my prediction. Seems like a great offensive move.

Was a shortage of 320's ever a concern for JB? Didn't they defer/sell a ton of them over the recent years?

Nothing seems to back up that theory.

Airbus (and Boeing to some extent) overbook their sales book. So - with VA's airplanes orders being cancelled and delayed, they may not be completely available to others.

For example - if there are 100 orders scheduled for a year, Airbus may be expecting a certain percentage to cancel... so they might only be capable of producing 90 a year.. so some of Virgin American's orders might have only existed in thin air... (and thus other airlines might not be able to pick all of them up)

I dont think Airbus will have any trouble finding someone to take those planes considering it is probably the 2nd most common airframe in the world.

Who's first?

737 I believe

Boeing 737.

List of most produced aircraft - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Damn, the production numbers for some of the WWII planes are staggering. More than twice as many DC3s were made compared to the 737

Not so much a "shortage", it's more of a "waiting list" for brand new 320 NEO's as they roll off the assembly line. Airliners aren't like car lots where you just walk through a hanger and pick one out. You've got to wait your turn, which jetBlue has been doing so. They are in position to receive many of these 320 NEO's, and now it might be possible to receive them sooner, rather than later. JetBlue already has a deal to buy many more of this type of aircraft. Whether they are willing to play ball with an earlier order or not, only time will tell.

They did not sell/defer a ton of them.....For every 10 new Airbuses that JetBlue buys, they retire 3 of the old Airbuses. That keeps maintenance costs down while the total fleet number increases.

Sounds great. Too bad million of dollars have to be paid to the manufacturer as a penalty for not taking Aircraft previously ordered. And, that represents sunk money!!!!!

Originally, JB ordered something like 220 E190s. I think you will see no more than 75 on property all told. Big difference.

JJ