JetBlue, US Airways Can't Get Their New Airplanes

Airbus deliveries to JetBlue and US Airway have been delayed by the partial government shutdown which went into effect last week.

That's because new airplanes have to be registered by the federal government, and the part of the government that handles such registrations has been closed by the shutdown. The two airlines had sent representatives to Europe to celebrate the deliveries, but Forbes reports that they flew home on commercial flights rather than riding home on the new airplanes.

Airbus spokesman Clay McConnell said the company is "trying to help the airlines figure this out," but without an N-number assigned by the government, the aircraft cannot operate for a U.S. carrier.

Over at Boeing, things are a little different. The FAA granted Boeing organization designation authorization (ODA), which allows the company to perform some of its own certification work. In a statement, the U.S. planemaker said that it would not be entirely unaffected by the shutdown. "(B)ecause some FAA employees retain certification duties for some of our products, deliveries of airplanes with new configurations or those delivered from Boeing South Carolina could be delayed during the shutdown. Also, certification of some our development programs could potentially be slowed or delayed,” the company said.

Two Dreamliners assembled in South Carolina were delivered last week.

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.airbus.com, www.boeing.com