Airbus and Embraer forecast supply-chain improvements amid airline frustration
Supply-chain challenges are continuing to slow the production and maintenance of commercial aircraft, but OEMs express cautious optimism that the situation will improve towards the end of next year. Speaking at the European Regions Airline Association General Assembly in Innsbruck on 11 October, executives from Airbus and Embraer joined airline leaders in acknowledging that the main driver of the challenges is a lack of skilled workers – a dynamic not unique to the air transport sector but one that it feels acutely. “The number one challenge across the industry is the global skills shortage,” Claude Debeauquenne, Airbus’ head of single-aisle market development, tells FlightGlobal. “We need more people and we need more skilled people. “This is something that we see with our customers, with our partners and of course this is something that we see at Airbus as well.” And it is not something that can be fixed overnight. “We are seeing it improve slowly,” Embraer Commercial Aviation CE Arjan Meijer said during a panel discussion. He predicts noteworthy improvements in supply chains “not by the end of this year but probably next year”. Debeauquenne concurs with Meijer on that timescale. “We see a continuation of those difficulties going into next year,” he says. “And then hopefully [they will] probably ease and [there will be] a bit more flexibility in the system by the end of next year.” Airbus, he notes, is taking on 13,000 new members of staff in 2023 as it stays “on the trajectory of being able to meet demand” for new aircraft, which, he highlights, is incredibly strong. Indeed, Debeauquenne is keen to stress that Airbus is still aiming to reach a production rate of 75 per month on the A320 programme, for example, by the end of 2026 – a marked increase on the 63 per month it was producing pre-pandemic. But both executives accept that even with new staff joining, there is work to do to achieve pre-Covid levels of productivity. Story has more.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2023-10-18/general/airbus-and-embraer-forecast-supply-chain-improvements-amid-airline-frustration
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Airbus and Embraer forecast supply-chain improvements amid airline frustration
Supply-chain challenges are continuing to slow the production and maintenance of commercial aircraft, but OEMs express cautious optimism that the situation will improve towards the end of next year. Speaking at the European Regions Airline Association General Assembly in Innsbruck on 11 October, executives from Airbus and Embraer joined airline leaders in acknowledging that the main driver of the challenges is a lack of skilled workers – a dynamic not unique to the air transport sector but one that it feels acutely. “The number one challenge across the industry is the global skills shortage,” Claude Debeauquenne, Airbus’ head of single-aisle market development, tells FlightGlobal. “We need more people and we need more skilled people. “This is something that we see with our customers, with our partners and of course this is something that we see at Airbus as well.” And it is not something that can be fixed overnight. “We are seeing it improve slowly,” Embraer Commercial Aviation CE Arjan Meijer said during a panel discussion. He predicts noteworthy improvements in supply chains “not by the end of this year but probably next year”. Debeauquenne concurs with Meijer on that timescale. “We see a continuation of those difficulties going into next year,” he says. “And then hopefully [they will] probably ease and [there will be] a bit more flexibility in the system by the end of next year.” Airbus, he notes, is taking on 13,000 new members of staff in 2023 as it stays “on the trajectory of being able to meet demand” for new aircraft, which, he highlights, is incredibly strong. Indeed, Debeauquenne is keen to stress that Airbus is still aiming to reach a production rate of 75 per month on the A320 programme, for example, by the end of 2026 – a marked increase on the 63 per month it was producing pre-pandemic. But both executives accept that even with new staff joining, there is work to do to achieve pre-Covid levels of productivity. Story has more.<br/>
