Tariffs could lift plane prices even higher

Compared with 2018, prices for commercial jets have risen by around 40 per cent," an aviation expert told AFP on condition of anonymity.

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Airlines are already lifted in recent years due to pandemic supply chain shocks, are poised to climb further as Boeing and Airbus are buffeted by trade tariffs.

The American and European aerospace giants have grappled with higher expenses for primary materials such as titanium, components and energy, as well as overall labour cost pressures.

To resolve a labour strike, Boeing late last year forged to a new contract with its Seattle-based machinist union that lifted wages by 38 per cent over four years.

Just months earlier, Spirit AeroSystems, a major supplier to both Boeing and Airbus, reached an agreement with similar wage increases.

Richard Aboulafia, managing director at consultancy AeroDynamic Advisory, said items that have inflated "at a particularly high rate" include castings, forgings and "anything titanium... especially since all that Russian capacity has been cut off from the US and, to a lesser extent, from Europe."

Aboulafia estimates prices for materials and equipment have risen 40 per cent since 2021. That's before Trump's 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum, which are used in planes.

"It's kind of ironic, raw materials were not a problem, but Donald Trump determined to make them a problem," Aboulafia said.