Airbus steps up pressure on suppliers over Canadian jet

Europe’s Airbus is ratcheting up pressure on suppliers like United Technologies to cut costs for its Canadian-developed A220 jetliner as it expands factory facilities to cope with anticipated demand for the former Bombardier model. Long seen as low on the list of priorities for top suppliers as Canada struggled to break into the main airliner market, the A220 now has the clout of the world’s second largest planemaker behind it after Airbus bought the loss-making project last year. Philippe Balducchi, head of an Airbus-led venture which took over production last July, said the planemaker was looking for a “significant double-digit” percentage reduction in costs but played down suggestions that it could slash costs by half. Balducchi indicated the bulk of the reduction in costs would come from the supply chain as Airbus uses its greater clout in negotiations for parts. Other savings would come from more efficient operations as workers gain experience of building the lightweight 110-130-seat jet, whose deliveries doubled to 33 aircraft last year. However, overall economies will go “way beyond” what Airbus can achieve internally on the assembly line, Balducchi said.<br/>