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BERLIN—Airbus will need to assimilate its growth in the coming years, as difficulties ramping up production according to plan show, Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury said June 9.
The airframer has been pursuing the ambitious goal of manufacturing 75 A320neo family aircraft per month. That target has proved tantalizing, as Airbus has postponed it several times. As a result, dissatisfied operators are waiting for aircraft they could use to meet passenger demand and cut their fleets' average fuel consumption.
Faury questioned the validity of Airbus’ growth plans. “We are growing at a pace difficult to sustain for a company that manufactures complex systems,” he said, speaking at the Berlin Aviation Summit. Hence a need to “digest” that growth in the next decade, he added. His comments come at a time when Airbus is considering a production rate greater than 100 aircraft per month for the A320neo’s replacement, the development of which Airbus might launch late this decade.
After the pandemic, a disorganized supply chain caused widespread problems in aerospace manufacturing. Although the situation has improved, pain points remain, Faury said, adding that the ramp-up is creating additional challenges for suppliers. Moreover, the A321neo, including the longer-range XLR version, has supplanted the A320neo as the majority model in production, adding complexity, he pointed out.
Taking over some former Spirit factories may help Airbus ease tensions. That plan includes A220 family wings in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and the A350’s fuselage section 15 in Kinston, North Carolina, Faury said. Airbus also has been struggling to ramp up A220 and A350 outputs.
In engines, Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan (GTF) family engines are powering about 40% of the A320 family aircraft Airbus is selling, and Pratt’s slow deliveries may still be impeding the ramp-up in 18 months from now, Faury said, singling out the engine maker. At the back end of 2027, Airbus will deliver between 70-75 A320 family aircraft per month, according to the airframer’s revised outlook. “That will depend on how many engines we finally get from Pratt & Whitney,” Faury said.
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