Airbus is ramping up investment to further drive home its advantage over Boeing, as the two manufacturers either side of the Atlantic slide further apart in terms of production and delivery.
Airbus delivers double Boeing’s output
Europe’s Airbus delivered more than double Boeing’s output of commercial aircraft in March 2024 (63 versus 29). In fact, the US firm has delivered a grand total of zero 777s since the start of the year, a problem the firm has attributed to supply issues. It has also been forced to slow down and even halt production to implement FAA-mandated quality checks after well-publicised quality concerns with the assembly of its 737 MAX.
During the first quarter then, Boeing delivered 83 planes in total. Airbus on the other hand, put out 142 aircraft over the first three months of the year, including 116 of its A320neo jets – a direct competitor to the MAX.
Airbus ahead for sales too
Airbus is ahead not only for completion and delivery, but, despite a split order from American Airlines for 85 aircraft from each manufacturer, in terms of orders too, making 170 sales over the same period with Boeing falling 44 orders behind. This represents a year-on-year sales decline of 36% for Boeing.
To meet demand, Airbus is set to increase A320neo production rates by around 50% over the next two years, in order to hit a re-confirmed target of 75 planes a month. In order to do so, it has been “running over budget in the civil business”, according to Reuter sources. Some of that spending has gone on employing 13,000 staff in 2023, of which 10,000 were new jobs. The firm has also invested in two new assembly lines.
Avoiding future bottlenecks
The manufacturer is pre-hiring “to be ready to achieve rate-75 in 2026”, Chief Financial Officer Thomas Toepfer has said, adding, “But of course the costs are hitting us now while the full efficiency only comes in 2026, and potentially 2027, when we are at a stable rate.”
Explaining the strategy and promising some let up in spending, which has some raised eyebrows among some shareholders, Toepfer said Airbus would ease off once the 75-a-month target had been met, but was investing now to get ahead of potential supply or recruitment issues further down the line. The firm “does not want to create our own bottlenecks in a supply environment which is anyway challenging,” he said.
