Airbus Group is basing its latest planned A320-family production rate hike on a robust backlog, having assessed the risks to orders as well as the capabilities of the supply chain.
The airframer is taking monthly production to 60 jets by mid-2019, although it has not given further details on any intermediate rate steps.
It has already declared that it will raise the rate to 50 in 2017.
Chief financial officer Harald Wilhelm, speaking during a third-quarter briefing, said the “decision avenue” for the rate hike has been “long”.
“Every week we looked into the backlog, what accounts might be at risk,” he says.
But he says the airframer is “comfortable” with its position. “That rate decision is not an expectation of massive new orders that we have to book,” Wilhelm adds.
Airbus is to introduce an additional A320 line at Hamburg Finkenwerder to achieve the rate increase, but has not detailed the output distribution across its four assembly lines. Wilhelm has not disclosed the number of additional employees Airbus expects to hire.
The strong backlog includes just over 4,300 re-engined A320neo-family aircraft listed on Airbus’s books at the end of September, as well as nearly 1,200 baseline A319s, A320s and A321s.
Airbus programmes chief Didier Evrard says that he is “confident” that the airframer is “almost through the flight-test and development” of the re-engined jet, and that it will achieve certification at the end of November.
While Airbus had originally expected initial deliveries in October 2015 the test programme has experienced a number of hold-ups.
Problems with an internal snap-ring on the Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engine required a design adjustment earlier this year, while other “production issues” led to a “small interruption” during the hot-weather test campaign. “Other than that, it has been quite steady,” says Evrard.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
