Gulf
Today, Monday, Nov 28, 2022 | Jamadi Al Awwal 4, 1444
Airbus may delay some 2023 jet deliveries on supply chain issue
Airbus is preparing the ground for further delays to planned delivery dates of
some medium-haul aircraft in 2023 even as it races to meet delivery targets for
2022 in the face of supply chain and labour problems, three industry sources
said.
The twin-speed approach comes as uncertainty remains over supplies of engines
for new plane production as well as other parts and labour, they added, asking
not to be named.
A spokesperson for Airbus said it had no comment on deliveries ahead of its next
monthly bulletin in early December.
Analysts say aerospace is grappling with a series of concurrent problems with
multiple knock-on effects. Jetliner and engine makers are battling supply chain
and labour problems, but so too are the worldwide repair shops needed to help
airlines meet a sharper than expected recovery in demand by keeping their
existing aircraft in service.
The logjam in repair capacity has left dozens of planes grounded as their
engines are late coming out of overhaul, and that in turn has created
competition for engines between new aircraft assembly lines and spares for the
existing fleet.
At least one engine maker is experiencing renewed pressure to shift more engines
away from supporting aircraft production to a pool of spares for existing
customers, the sources said.
Airbus produces A320-neo family jets with a choice of engines from General
Electric and Safran joint venture CFM International or Raytheon Technologies
unit Pratt & Whitney. Boeing uses solely CFM for its 737 family.
Data showing how many jets are unused because of maintenance delays as opposed
to economic or other reasons is not available. But there are signs the total
number of parked A320neo-family jets has risen since early this year, led by
Pratt versions, even as demand for travel on such aircraft has been increasing.
Currently some 129 Pratt-powered Airbus jets and 55 fitted with CFM’s LEAP
engines are parked, according to Ascend by Cirium’s head of global consulting
Rob Morris.
Neither engine maker had any immediate comment.
In October, Airbus and Safran struck a more upbeat note on recently disrupted
engine supplies than Boeing, which said during quarterly earnings that engines
were its main constraint.
At the same time, engine industry sources insist snags on their side of the
fence are not solely to blame for delays. One executive denied any additional
pressure on engine supplies.
Jetmakers have been facing difficulties getting other parts on time including
galleys and lavatories, one executive said.
In July, Airbus said it would reach an interim production goal of 65 A320-family
narrow-body jets a month in early 2024 instead of summer 2023. It targets 75 a
month in 2025.