By Christopher Hinton, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) – Embraer SA warned JetBlue Airways Corp. that three of its E190 jets on order would be delayed because Japanese parts for the General Electric Co. engine weren’t available, only to amend the notification to just one delivery delay soon after, the airline said Monday.
The incident underscores the difficulty aerospace manufacturers are having in assessing the impact of last month’s earthquake and tsunami on the industry’s supply chain.
Though Japanese companies that supply parts to aircraft manufacturers directly may have escaped damage, companies that supply the suppliers — which could number into the thousands — have reported disruptions.
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Embraer /zigman2/quotes/201881360/composite ERJ +1.01% /zigman2/quotes/201576050/delayed BR:EMBR3 +1.40% declined to comment specifically on the delay for JetBlue, saying instead it continues to study the issue. “As of now, there is no apparent alteration to our plans for the year,” said Embraer spokeswoman Elisa Donel.
Rival Boeing Co. /zigman2/quotes/208579720/composite BA -0.37% , which builds some of the major components’ for the Boeing 777 and 787 jetliners in Japan, said earlier that alternative sources have been filling in for those downstream suppliers affected from the quake. The company reaffirmed Monday that so far there’s been no impact to its production rate.
Boeing reports its first-quarter results on Wednesday. Read more about Boeing’s first quarter.
JetBlue /zigman2/quotes/207639051/composite JBLU +0.67% said it received the initial Embraer notice on April 6, advising the carrier of three aircraft-delivery delays. It then received an amended notification on April 15, advising that only one aircraft — originally scheduled for delivery in June — would be delayed until July.
The New York-based carrier said its E190 jet was delayed due to limited availability of engine parts.
The E190 engines are built by GE Aviation.
No one from General Electric Co. /zigman2/quotes/208495069/composite GE +0.22% was immediately available to comment.
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