Summary At least three US-based airlines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue, and Spirit Airlines have deferred Airbus A320neo family aircraft deliveries. All three reasoned in a similar fashion, arguing that the deferrals would help their liquidity situation. Other airlines, including American Airlines and United Airlines, have pushed back aircraft deliveries in the past few years.
In the past few months, struggling United States carriers, including Frontier Airlines, JetBlue, and Spirit Airlines, have deferred aircraft deliveries in an effort to preserve their liquidity. The trope uniting all three airlines was that all three carriers are either all-Airbus operators (Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines) or have fleets that are underpinned by the European manufacturer’s aircraft (JetBlue). For Airbus, that meant that the A320neo family aircraft has additional highly sought-after delivery slots in the next few years while also ensuring long-term demand for its best-selling single-aisle jets.
Frontier Airlines deferring deliveries and dropping the A321XLR Frontier Airlines was the last major commercial airline in the US to announce its Q2 results, indicating that after the quarter where its revenues were $973 million, it earned a $31 million net income, it also deferred Airbus A320neo and A321neo deliveries. The airline finalized the agreement with Airbus on August 7, according to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing. As a result, the carrier’s remaining deliveries between 2025 and 2028 were deferred to later years, with Frontier Airlines now planning to take delivery of 76 A321neo after 2028.
Frontier Airlines' adjusted A320neo family aircraft delivery schedule Airbus A320neo deliveries Airbus A321neo deliveries Change Q3 and Q4 2024 ➖ 9 ➖ 2025 8 13 -21 2026 7 15 -19 2027 8 26 -8 2028 4 30 -6 Beyond 2028 ➖ 76 54 Total 27 169 ➖ In addition, the carrier said that in June, it notified Airbus that Frontier Airlines had canceled 18 orders for the A321XLR and converted 18 A320neo to A321neo aircraft. According to Frontier Airlines’ Q2 statement, the agreement to defer deliveries has reduced its financing needs and pre-delivery payment (PDP) commitments in the coming years. The airline ended the quarter with cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash of $658 million, compared to $780 million at the end of 2023.
Frontier Airlines had ordered 18 Airbus A321XLRs in June 2019. JetBlue prioritizing smaller Airbus aircraft Meanwhile, JetBlue's Q2 SEC filing revealed that on July 26, the airline and Airbus also agreed to defer the airline’s A321neo deliveries scheduled between 2025 and 2029 to 2030 and beyond. At the same time, the carrier opted to continue taking deliveries of A220-300s during the same period, with the airline planning to introduce 64 aircraft of the type until 2028 and four after 2028.
JetBlue has also kept A220-300 options that would be delivered in 2027 and 2028 if the airline chose to exercise them. JetBlue’s adjusted Airbus delivery schedule Airbus A220-300 deliveries Airbus A321neo deliveries Q3 and Q4 2024 12 1 2025 20 4 2026 20 ➖ 2027 5 ➖ 2028 7 ➖ Beyond 2028 4 44 Total 68 49 The deferrals were part of JetBlue’s ‘JetForward’ strategy, with the airline highlighting four key priority areas that would help it achieve earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of $800 million to $900 million between 2025 and 2027. The last point was presented as achieving a secure financial future, which included sustaining its historical cost advantage and restoring a healthy balance sheet through capital discipline.
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] deferring approximately $3.0 billion of capital expenditures through 2029, designed to also improve our cash flow outlook.” Destined to replace the aging E195 fleet, the A220 provides 90% more premium seats.
Spirit Airlines improving its liquidity position Spirit Airlines and Airbus concluded the low-cost carrier’s amended purchase agreement on April 3, announcing the deferred deliveries to the public on April 8. At the time, the airline said that it would defer all aircraft scheduled for delivery between Q2 2025 and 2026 to 2030 and 2031 while also deferring A320neo family aircraft for which it held options from 2027 and 2029 to 2029 and 2031. “The foregoing is expected to improve Spirit’s liquidity position by approximately $340 million over the next two years.
” Spirit Airlines’ adjusted Airbus A320neo family aircraft delivery schedule Airbus A320neo deliveries Airbus A321neo deliveries Q3 and Q4 2024 ➖ 12 2025 ➖ 6 2026 ➖ ➖ 2027 Undisclosed Undisclosed 2028 Undisclosed Undisclosed Beyond 2028 Undisclosed Undisclosed Total ➖ 18 until 2026 While the fleet plan that Spirit Airlines shared with its Q2 results did not disclose the number of deliveries in 2027 and later years, April’s deferral announcement detailed that there were no changes to deliveries between 2027 and 2029. ch-aviation data showed that Spirit Airlines has 23 A320neo and 33 A321neo aircraft on order. At the same time, even if the latest market realities have forced low-cost carriers to upscale their passenger experience, aiming to capture more premium revenue , other US-based carriers have also deferred deliveries in the past few years.
For example, United Airlines has continuously pushed back the entry-into-service (EIS) date of its Airbus A350-900 aircraft to beyond 2027 . While the aircraft was still present on the carrier’s latest quarterly SEC filing, it only said that the carrier expected to take delivery of 45 A350s after 2025. In its Q3 2023 SEC filing, American Airlines adjusted the delivery schedule of Boeing 787-9 aircraft to better reflect the airline’s planned growth plans.
Spirit Airlines continues shoring up its liquidity, with the agreement signed shortly after its deal with Pratt & Whitney..
