On the Airbus A350 assembly site in Colomiers, near ed Toulouse, December 9, 2022 (AFP/Archives/Valentine CHAPUIS)
Airbus consolidates its position as world number one in civil aviation against Boeing: the European aircraft manufacturer delivered more planes in 2022 and obtained more orders than its recovering American rival but suffered from the difficulties of suppliers to follow its ramp up.
The European supplants the American in terms of deliveries with 661 aircraft delivered to customers, against 480 by Boeing. Airbus also narrowly wins in terms of orders, with 820 net orders, that is to say taking into account cancellations, against 808 for Boeing.
For the Seattle giant, the number of deliveries represents a 40% increase compared to the previous year, but also the best performance since 2018, before the American group had to manage the crisis of the 737 MAX after two fatal accidents and the massive slowdown in air traffic with the pandemic. He had also had to stop for more than a year his deliveries, resumed in August, of his successful long-haul, the 787 Dreamliner, due to poor workmanship.
Airbus is ahead of Boeing in 2022 (AFP/Emmanuelle MICHEL, Sabrina BLANCHARD)
A greater increase than for Airbus, whose deliveries increased by 8% compared to 2021, the year during which the group began to increase its production after the shutdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We are clearly below our targets, but given the complexity of our operational environment, I would like to thank our teams and our partners for the efforts made and the result achieved”, said Airbus Executive Chairman Guillaume Faury, quoted in a press release.
The difficulties of the global chain of suppliers to keep up with the ramp-up decreed by Airbus led the latter to revise its initial objective of 720 aircraft delivered over the year to 700, then to acknowledge in December that it would not achieve this number.
This “supply chain”, weakened by the pandemic, found itself in “very great difficulty” at the time of the restart, according to Mr. Faury. A problem that has not spared Boeing.
Throughout the year, the two aircraft manufacturers had to juggle, mainly with their suppliers, between recruitment difficulties, even labor shortages, tensions over the supply of certain raw materials and electronic components and the energy crisis caused by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
– Upset pace –
The supply of engines, erratic in the first half of the year, thus led Airbus to produce at the beginning of the year “gliders” (gliders, editor’s note), planes without their engines.
Airbus Executive Chairman Guillaume Faury, in Paris on April 28, 2022 (AFP/Archives/Eric PIERMONT)
Deliveries are a reliable indicator of profitability in aerospace, with customers paying most of the bill when they take possession of the planes.
The two aircraft manufacturers have reviewed the pace of the ramp-up necessary to meet the expected growth in global air traffic and the desire of airlines to modernize their fleets with aircraft that consume less fuel and emit less CO2.
Airbus, which had reduced production to 40 A320 Family aircraft during the pandemic, expected to produce 65 aircraft by the end of 2023, more than it has ever made. But the difficulties of the suppliers led him to postpone this objective until 2024. It expects to reach the figure of 75 monthly devices “in the middle of the decade”, confirmed Guillaume Faury during a telephone press conference.
A boeing 787 Dreamliner, in North Charleston, South Carolina, on December 13, 2022 (AFP/Archives/Logan Cyrus)
Boeing, which was still reporting hundreds of planes manufactured but not flowing to customers as of late October, including its most popular 737 MAX and 787 planes, is currently producing 31 single-aisle 737 MAX aircraft per month and “will assess timing for further increases.” ” depending on the ability of suppliers to follow.
With 820 net orders, Airbus recorded its best commercial performance since 2017. Boeing, which had outstripped the European in 2021 with 535 planes ordered against 507, in 2022 let the crown narrowly escape it.
The American giant can however count on its long-haul. Traditionally the most profitable market, it is gradually picking up thanks to cargo: Boeing recorded 182 net orders for its 777 and 787, while Airbus recorded more cancellations than orders and posted a negative balance of 55 aircraft for its A330 and A350.
© 2023 AFP
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