Airbus is insisting that its planned production rate increases are strongly supported by customer demand and needs more buy-in from a supply chain reluctant to come in fully behind the expansion.

The aircraft is to enter service in 2025, though no launch order has been signed to date. 

Demand for more than 60 Airbus A320neo family aircraft per month is doubtful and the supply chain has yet to prove it could accommodate a production ramp-up beyond that level, according to Safran CEO Olivier Andries.

An uptick in commercial activity helped Boeing Global Services (BGS) boost revenues 10% sequentially last quarter and has the company bullish on short-term aftermarket prospects as travel demand continues to rise in key markets.  

Boeing could accept more risk with its supply chain as it seeks to ramp up 737 MAX narrowbody production quickly in 2022, and it will hold its own workforce at roughly 140,000 employees, company leaders said.

Boeing’s plan to double 737 MAX production by early 2022 hinges on China’s approval to unground the model—a move the company expects to happen by year-end despite trade tensions that are threatening to overshadow safety issues, company executives said.

Despite continuing to defer strategic decisions on successor models for the 737 and 757 market sectors, Boeing President and CEO Dave Calhoun insists the manufacturer is adequately funding both near-term product development and longer-term overall research and development (R&D).

Airbus is in the middle of a deepening conflict with its largest union and the German works council over the future of its aerostructures subsidiary Premium Aerotec (PAG) that may delay a key part of the manufacturer’s plans to change the industrial setup.