This year will be another of “stabilisation” for ATR, with deliveries in the 40-aircraft range, as the airframer tweaks its production capacity to enable output of up to 60 of its regional turboprops annually, says chief executive Nathalie Tarnaud Laude.
The airframer’s had a “successful” 2024, she told a 12 February press conference, despite persistent supply chain problems that hampered aircraft deliveries.
ATR handed over 35 of its twin-turboprops last year – plus a further example waiting on customer acceptance – matching its 2023 performance.
“From my perspective, we achieved what we said we would achieve in the context of a very constrained supply chain situation,” she says.
But Laude acknowledges that deliveries were “late by a few months” in some cases, due pressures the misfiring supply chain placed on the final assembly line (FAL).
Parts are still “missing or coming late”, she says, “obliging us to somehow constantly adapt on the FAL to try and deliver our aircraft”.
ATR is still “struggling” with landing gears, she says, and is working with supplier Safran Landing Systems to rectify the situation.
“I have a very good relationship with the CEO of Safran Landing Systems whom I’m calling every week. We are trying to [ensure] it is changing because it needs to change,” Laude says.
ATR’s “priority” for the second half of the year will be to “stablise” the parts flow “so we receive them on time and start to be able to install them where and when they should be installed on the FAL”.
In parallel with fixing the supply chain, ATR is performing a “complete reshuffle of the FAL processes”, bringing it in line with the “latest regulations and the latest technology,” says senior vice-president of engineering Daniel Cuchet.
This project should ensure it is capable of producing up to 60 aircraft annually in the future, says Laude, noting that in pre-Covid times the airframer built up to 80 annually.
“It’s fair to say up to 60 aircraft can be absorbed in this FAL. So we can achieve that.”
Laude says a target for the next one and half years – the time remaining on her tenure at the Airbus-Leonardo joint venture – will be to “rebuild” the production capability “to bring this company to the level where it was before”.
Doing so would open up more sales opportunities, says senior vice-president commercial Alexis Vidal. With a backlog of over 150 units, he says the next available slot is in 2026.
But the airframer is also trying to educate customers “about the need for capacity planning”, he adds.
“Here you will see on the other side of the road, you have a large aircraft manufacturer [Airbus] that is used to selling aircraft for seven, eight, nine years down the road. This is not the regional market.
“However, we have a duty and a need to raise awareness among our customer base that we need to plan capacity because of the overall industry supply constraints.”
He says this message has begun to “resonate with customers”, adding: “This is why we have started taking larger orders, delivering on a multi-year basis.”
Last year, ATR booked 56 gross orders, including newly disclosed agreements for ATR 72-600s from Spanish carrier Binter Canarias for four, plus five options, and 10 from Bangkok Airways. Both are existing operators of ATR 72-600s.
