Airbus has eased off the gas on planned production growth for some of the jetliners it builds in Alabama, though the adjustment appears to be no threat to expansion plans in Mobile.
The manufacturer announced Tuesday that it wasn’t going to hit its ambitious post-pandemic forecast of around 700 aircraft deliveries in 2022. But the company said it made 68 deliveries in November, bringing the total so far this year to 565 and bringing a year-end total of well over 600 within reach.
The day’s announcement also came with a slight adjustment to the forecast for the A320 family of jetliners. Airbus builds A320-family jets in Toulouse, France; Hamburg, Germany; Tianjin, China; and Mobile. It has announced major expansion plans for A320 production facilities in Mobile, with new facilities to be built by 2025. The work could mean 1,000 new jobs at the Airbus campus in the Brookley Aeroplex.
Airbus’ latest wording on A320 production represents a subtle change.
What the company said as it announced first-quarter results in May: “Commercial aircraft production for the A320 Family is progressing towards a monthly rate of 65 aircraft by summer 2023, in a complex environment. Following an analysis of global customer demand as well as an assessment of the industrial ecosystem’s readiness, the Company is now working with its suppliers and partners to enable monthly production rates of 75 in 2025.”
What Airbus said Tuesday: “Taking into account the fact that this complex environment will persist longer than previously expected, Airbus will be adjusting the speed of the A320 Family ramp-up to rate 65 for 2023 and 2024. Airbus maintains the objective of reaching rate 75 by the middle of the decade.”
So: Production of 75 A320 jets per month by 2025 (or 2025-ish) is still the goal, which is good news for Mobile. The ramp-up to get there just won’t be as aggressive.
Why not? Bloomberg News reported that it’s largely because of ongoing supply-chain disruptions: “The aviation industry has been beset by parts shortages on everything from small components to engines. The crisis has been compounded by soaring energy prices squeezing suppliers, and [Airbus] Chief Executive Officer Guillaume Faury cautioned last week that there’s unlikely to be any improvement until the end of next year.”
For context, Airbus reports that as of Nov. 30 it had delivered 440 A320-family jets in 2022. That works out to 40 per month, an average that doesn’t tell the whole story. A320 deliveries accelerated from 24 in January to 53 in November.
Airbus also assembles smaller A220 family of jets in Mobile, one of two sites where it does so. The A220 and A320 are sometimes grouped together as single-aisle production.
As of November 30, Airbus had delivered 45 A220s, with monthly production generally trending upward. Six were delivered in November.
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