The Airs are behind the original release date. EVERY mfg is way behind on everything.
When I have time I will be doing a post about the state of product delivery, however, since it goes along with this question I will post the following that I got in an email this morning from a different (Not Meopta) mfg.
"Hi Doug,
It is a pity that we cannot meet each other in Las Vegas at SHOT as usual, but unfortunately this accursed Covid emergency has affected our lives in more ways that we can count. In particular, its impact on the industry has been dramatic because my entire production chain in China is currently in shambles and the same goes for my competitors apparently. For your reference, these are the problems I am currently dealing with:
-Factories in China are still subject to multiple restrictions, which are slowing down their production significantly. What previously took 90 days of lead time is now taking 150-180 days. I have placed several orders with my suppliers back in June and I am yet to receive those, go figure.
-Shipping companies have drastically reduced the number of voyages between China and the USA. This is creating huge congestions in every major Chinese port and thus I routinely end up losing another 3-4 weeks in the port with my goods, before I can finally load them onto the first available vessel.
Long story short, getting any given cargo from my suppliers has become a true ordeal. By the time a shipment of riflescopes or spotting scopes is finally received, I can't even cover the backorders that have been piling up. As a result of this situation, my stock has been next to nothing for quite some months already.
Needless to say, the above situation is temporary. I am sure that things will get back to normal eventually and I will therefore be able to replenish my stock as needed."
This is an industry wide issue, in varying degrees, from worldwide mfg facilities. We have been able to keep a decent supply of product on hand as we have been ordering very heavily since last February which has made it so when our suppliers do get product in we too get product in. Some companies we have gone to ordering daily from and others weekly. This is extreme change to when we ordered weekly and monthly.
Just wanted to add some color to the "when will these be in or be released" questions.
