Airbus A350-900.
Virtually all of Airbus’s supply chain is now delivering components on time, but the missing pieces of the jigsaw are coming from unexpected quarters, according to the head of the company’s commercial aircraft division.
Asked for a forecast of the supply chain situation over the next two years, specifically on the Airbus A350 widebody, Airbus Commercial Aircraft CEO Christian Scherer said it was important to note that 98% of the company’s suppliers were delivering on time.
“It’s not like its chaos out there. But you have some bottlenecks there that are pretty tight knots,” he said.
Speaking at a pre-Farnborough briefing on the eve of the show, Scherer said some of those bottlenecks were coming “from equipment makers that one would expect to have the resolve to open those knots. Cabin equipment is one of the bottlenecks in some of our projects. Landing gears are another area of concern.”
Airbus is also keeping a close watch on engines, which are a pacing item in construction.
Asked about delays of the A350 to Emirates Airline, which had forced the carrier to defer some of its plans for this summer, he said that the first A350 would be delivered before the end of this year. He added that a high-level Emirates delegation had recently been in Toulouse and had been “very happy” with what they saw.
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