Planemaker slows aggressive ramp up of A320 narrow-body as suppliers scramble to hit targets

LONDON—Airbus cut its aircraft delivery guidance for this year and slowed production plans, citing delays in its supply chain that are holding back the European planemaker’s aggressive ramp up targets.

The company will deliver 700 aircraft this year, 20 fewer than it had initially planned, it said on Wednesday. Airbus delivered 297 aircraft in the first half, with some handovers held back by missing or late components.

While it held on to plans to increase production of its bestselling narrow-body family to 75-a-month in 2025, it said production would increase more slowly through 2023. Rates for that aircraft, the A320, will now only reach a rate of 65-a-month in early 2024, about six months behind schedule. Rates are currently at about 50 a month.

“We are late on the trajectory we had given to ourselves,” Airbus Chief Executive Guillaume Faury said on a call with reporters, citing the supply-chain challenges. “We are trying to go as fast as we can.”

Excerpt from WSJ
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