Airbus woes while Boeing rebounds show how quickly the script can flip

As Boeing Co. lurched from one crisis to the next last year, its European rival quietly went about churning out aircraft, with Airbus SE Chief Executive Officer Guillaume Faury routinely reminding his staff to remain humble. Faury was well aware of how quickly the tables can turn in an industry that only knows two main players. And the past week brought an unwelcome reminder that Airbus, too, isn’t immune to the production woes bedeviling aircraft manufacturing, with supply and worker shortages being acute issues years after the pandemic ended. [caption id="attachment_57146791" align="aligncenter" width="2560"] (Courtesy/Airbus)[/caption] Early today, Airbus was forced to revise its aircraft delivery target for the year, an important metric the company had long maintained was achievable, even as the warning alarms sounded louder. But after discovering that a little-known supplier from Spain had delivered out-of-spec aircraft panels, Airbus was finally forced into reverse, underscoring just how dependent the €155 billion ($181 billion) company’s fortunes are on a still-shaky, far-flung network of smaller manufacturers. It wasn’t the only piece of bad news Airbus doled out in the last few days. Late on Nov. 28, the France-based company called for an urgent software revision for a fleet of about 6,000 A320 aircraft after discovering a possible fault in the way the computers interact with flight controls. The A320 family is the company’s most popular product. Three days later, Airbus disclosed the quality issue on some metal panels that make up the fuselage of the same jet, forcing an arduous inspection of more than 600 units that are either already in service or at some stage of production. “The pressures of quarterly results, sometimes the pressures of competition, probably the quality drops a little bit,” Tony Fernandes, founder of AirAsia, said in a Dec. 2 interview with Bloomberg Television. “It’s a good warning for everybody.” Boeing stock rises The one-two punch this week spooked investors and triggered the planemaker’s worst trading day since April. And the stumble was made all the more glaring as Boeing enjoyed its best stock return in months after striking an optimistic note on its financial recovery. On Dec. 2, the U.S. manufacturer laid out several upbeat predictions: from higher deliveries of its 737 and 787 models next year to finally being able to generate cash again after years of outflow. Investors lapped up the good news, pushing the stock as much as 10% higher. Boeing has managed to extract itself from a yearslong crisis that began in late 2018 with the first of two aircraft crashes in rapid succession, was compounded by the COVID-19 crisis and then grew more acute still in early 2024, when sloppy workmanship led to another near-catastrophe on an airborne plane. Then late last year, a debilitating strike halted production for weeks and sapped the planemaker’s resources. But the iconic U.S. company has mounted a comeback since then under the new leadership of CEO Kelly Ortberg, who’s revitalized the company and made some significant management changes. Boeing also enjoyed the backing of the White House, with the U.S. president routinely using aircraft orders as a bargaining chip as he travels the world or works out tariff agreements. Airbus acknowledged it doesn’t have the same sort of prominent sales support that Boeing enjoys with Donald Trump. This week, Faury will be part of an entourage with French President Emmanuel Macron to China, long a loyal buyer of Airbus aircraft, particularly as relations with Washington grow increasingly tense. Delivery delays To be sure, Airbus’ recent setbacks aren’t likely to be on the level of the considerable meltdown that Boeing suffered last year. The company was quickly able to fix the software revisions over the weekend, keeping disruptions to a minimum. And Airbus has said it expects most of the panels under inspection to turn out just fine. But the delivery revision will still leave some airlines waiting even longer for their planes, at a time when carriers are seeking to urgently upgrade their fleets to meet a surge in global travel demand. Customers such as Ryanair Holdings Plc have long bemoaned the delays holding back the industry’s growth ambitions. “The new fuselage-panel issue underlines ongoing sensitivities across the narrowbody supply chain and reinforces our view that Airbus is structurally constrained in lifting output,” Mwb Research AG analyst Jens-Peter Rieck wrote in a note. The long-term consensus on production “looks increasingly unrealistic.” With China’s ambitions to upset the duopoly still in its infancy, the fortunes of Airbus and Boeing remain closely aligned. For decades, Boeing was the undisputed leader with its 737 model and popular widebody jets. When A320 deliveries began in the late 1980s, the U.S. planemaker shipped ten times as many 737 jets as the European upstart could muster. Since then, the A320 has unseated the 737 as the most widely flown commercial jetliner. Elevating output Airbus has a plan to churn out seventy-five A320 family planes a month in 2027, and Boeing, too, has recently raised monthly output of its bestselling 737 model. As the two companies elevate their output, they need to maintain the same quality standards and ensure that a brittle supply chain can keep up. And it’s not just panels that are creating headaches for Airbus. The planemaker had to absorb engine issues on its newer A320neo jets, powered by RTX Corp.’s Pratt & Whitney, that forced hundreds of jets to be taken out of service temporarily for maintenance. Other bottlenecks include galleys and toilets for the larger A350 model. Cargo Facts LATAM 2026, the essential event for stakeholders in Latin America, will take place Feb. 10-12 at the Marquis Reforma in Mexico City. Learn more and register by Dec. 26 to take advantage of early-bird pricing. Cargo Facts Asia 2026, the indispensable event for Asia-Pacific stakeholders, will take place March 23-25 at the W Shanghai. Learn more and register by Feb. 6 to take advantage of early-bird pricing. The inaugural Cargo Facts Routes and Airport Conference will take place April 27-28 at the Marriott Al Forsan Abu Dhabi. Learn more and register by March 13 to take advantage of early-bird pricing.

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