ATR believes its production will "plateau at 100 aircraft a year or just over" from 2016 as it continues to increase output to meet record levels of orders.
But chief executive Patrick de Castelbajac admits the Franco-Italian turboprop manufacturer faces supply-chain "challenges" ramping up from 83 deliveries in 2014.
Toulouse-based ATR has raised output 60% since the start of the decade, following a barren period for the joint venture in the mid-2000s when production fell almost to single figures.
Speaking at ATR's annual results briefing in Paris today, de Castelbajac said he was "comfortable" with an output of "100 or slightly more".
He adds: "When you go up by 60% in five years, it doesn't do it by itself. We will have to support some of the weakest parts of our supply chain."
ATR – owned equally by Airbus Group and Italy's Finmeccanica – shares many suppliers with Airbus's commercial arm.
"Our volumes are much smaller than Airbus's, so we have to be careful our suppliers give us the right level of priority," he says. "I don't want suppliers to say: 'I will invest everything into Airbus.' We need to make sure they support the ramp-up with the right level of quality.”
ATR is also recruiting more staff directly as it works to fulfil its highest-ever backlog of 280 firm orders. It hired 100 mostly blue-collar workers last year and will take on a further 50 this year.
After notching up 160 firm orders in 2014, de Castelbajac expects sales levels to reduce slightly in 2015, given a lack of short-term availability of aircraft and concerns among airlines about oil-price volatility.
"Our objective this year is to be more conservative after a fantastic year," he says. "It is normal that we will see that balancing down a bit. Our target will be to maintain the backlog."
Source: Cirium Dashboard
