Bamboo Airways is currently facing significant operational challenges, having reduced its fleet from eight aircraft at the start of the year to just one. The sole operational aircraft is an Airbus A321-200, which has been in service for 13.5 years. This drastic reduction follows a period of turmoil for the airline, which saw its fleet peak at 44 aircraft during its height of operations.

The airline's troubles began in 2022 when its founder, Trịnh Văn Quyết, became embroiled in legal issues, leading to a takeover by new investors. Despite efforts to restructure, the process has been fraught with difficulties, resulting in the airline being returned to its original parent company, FLC Group, with only seven operational aircraft remaining.

By the end of 2025, Bamboo Airways managed to add an aircraft back to its fleet, bringing the total to eight. However, this recovery was short-lived, as the fleet size dwindled again to three by the end of July this year, and now stands at just one.

According to data from the Vietnam Civil Aviation Authority, Bamboo Airways operated 725 flights in June, with 241 of those flights delayed, marking it as one of the airlines with the lowest on-time performance, at approximately 67%. The airline has faced numerous cancellations and schedule changes, prompting it to issue apologies to passengers and commit to processing refund requests in order of submission, although delays in this process have been reported due to a high volume of requests.

In a recent social media post on August 21, Trịnh Văn Quyết expressed gratitude towards the airline's crew, emphasizing the need for collective effort during these challenging times. Meanwhile, other airlines in Vietnam, such as VietJet Air and Vietnam Airlines, continue to operate larger fleets, with 107 and 97 aircraft respectively, highlighting the stark contrast in the operational capacities of the country's airlines.