Sun Country Airlines (SY, Minneapolis St. Paul International) will lease out two B737-800s it was initially planning to add in the fourth quarter of 2023, mostly due to the "growth moderation" caused by pilot staffing constraints, Chief Executive Jude Bricker said during a quarterly earnings call.
"This will delay the entry into service of two B737-800s planned for the fourth quarter of 2023, until the first quarter of 2025. Aircraft are generally in high demand, as much of the aviation industry deals with production delays on new narrowbodies and service disruptions from the [Pratt & Whitney] GTF. So, we'll make good returns on these aircraft until we're able to fully utilise them," Bricker said.
The carrier confirmed to ch-aviation that the two B737s will be leased out to flydubai.
The ch-aviation fleets module shows that Sun Country Airlines operates forty-two B737-800s, of which it owns 33. It also operates a single B737-700 for a dedicated charter contract, as well as twelve B737-800(BCF)s flying for Amazon.com. Recently, Sun Country Airlines also acquired five B737-900ERs, which remain on lease to Oman Air (WY, Muscat) through late 2025.
"Those [B737-900ERs] start to come off lease and redeliver to us in November of 2024. So that's incremental aircraft in 2025. So that's seven incremental [aircraft in 2025, including the two -800s]. And we may or may not be in the market for one or two more. The good news here is that between improved utilisation and the aircraft we already have in the pipeline, the CapEx for those has largely been incurred already. So, we think we're in a great position from a fleet perspective," President and Chief Financial Officer Dave Davis said.
