Airbus CFO says Boeing problems unrelated to A350 production ramp-up

An Airbus employee repairs parts of an Airbus A350 aircraft at the Airbus Atlantic plant in Bougainville, near Nantes, western France on February 29, 2024.

Sebastian Salomgomis

French planemaker Airbus is ramping up production of its A350 jets due to consumer demand rather than the ongoing crisis at US rival Boeing Co, its chief financial officer said.

Toulouse-based Airbus announced Thursday that it plans to increase production of the long-haul aircraft to 12 per month by 2028.

Asked whether the company would benefit from the A350 on Thursday, Airbus Chief Financial Officer Thomas Toffer told CNBC’s Charlotte Reed: “I would say, absolutely. This reflects the very strong commercial momentum we are seeing for the A350.” Boeing’s instability.

Airbus announced a total of 170 commercial aircraft orders for the quarter, nearly half of which were A350 modifications.

“So (we’re experiencing) very, very strong order volume,” Toffer said, adding that he expected the momentum to continue.

Airlines around the world say they are facing supply chain and manufacturing problems and claim they are working quickly to meet burning demand for new planes. Total Airbus commercial aircraft orders jump to 2,319 for 2023, up from 1,078 in 2022.

Boeing has scaled back production of its best-selling 737 Max, which is at the center of its crisis after two fatal crashes and an accident involving one. In-flight event A door jam is blown.

Toffer said the supply chain environment has not improved in recent months and remains “broad-based” on materials, complicating Airbus’ efforts to ramp up production.

He repeated his comments that Boeing’s problems do not help the industry as a whole or Airbus in particular.

“It puts additional pressure and impact on the supply chain and on some individual suppliers and we feel the same,” he said. “It does not help the development of the industry and Airbus.”

Toffer said Airbus has had “very constructive discussions” about increasing efficiency with manufacturer Spirit, which is facing cash flow challenges as it enters acquisition talks with Boeing. Spirit serves both aircraft manufacturers.

“We may also consider taking on the work packages that Spirit produces for Airbus because they are very important to us and our first priority must be to ensure that the supply of these work packages is secured,” he continued.

Airbus’ quarterly results did not meet analysts’ expectations On Thursday, the company reported a 25% year-over-year drop in first-quarter operating profit to 577 million euros ($619 million), Reuters reported. On Wednesday, Boeing Co. Released quarterly loss of $355 million.