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Airbus has reaffirmed its goal to deliver “around 770” commercial aircraft to customers by the end of the year, despite persistent supply chain challenges that have hampered plans to increase production.
The world’s largest aircraft maker on Wednesday also said the board would propose the renewal of Guillaume Faury’s mandate as chief executive in 2025.
It came as Airbus reported higher than expected profit for the third quarter, recording adjusted operating earnings of €1.4bn for the third quarter, up 39 per cent compared with the same period a year earlier. Revenues rose 5 per cent to €15.7bn at the aerospace and defence group, which has its main factories in Toulouse.
The company said it had chosen the chief executive of Germany’s MTU Aero Engines, Lars Wagner, to succeed Christian Scherer, who currently heads Airbus’s commercial aircraft division.
Wagner, who started his career at Airbus, will rejoin the group once his contract at MTU finishes at the end of 2025.
Faury insisted the change was not a reflection on Scherer, who became head of Airbus’s commercial aircraft division in January and has had to manage in a tough operating environment despite strong demand from airline customers. Scherer, 62, has spent the bulk of his career at Airbus.
“It is absolutely not a reflection or any indication of Christian not doing the job,” Faury said on a call with reporters, noting it was a “well-organised transition that makes a lot of sense”.
Sash Tusa, analyst at Agency Partners, said in a research note it was “hard to escape a feeling that the planned retirement . . . of Scherer may in part be driven by the very disappointing industrial performance of the division, with the production rates ‘ramp’ having disappointed all through 2024”.
Airbus unnerved investors in June when it cut its annual profit forecast and lowered its full-year commercial aircraft delivery target from near 800 to “around 770”, citing a degraded operating environment and problems in its space business.
The company said at the time it was facing “persistent specific supply chain issues, mainly in engines, aerostructures and cabin equipment”.
Faury said on Wednesday that Airbus continued to face a complex operating environment.
The availability of jet engines from both Pratt & Whitney and CFM International, the joint venture of GE Aerospace and Safran, was “pacing the speed of production”, he added.
Faury said Airbus, however, was not yet building “gliders”: aircraft that have been built but are still waiting for engines.
Airbus delivered 497 commercial planes in the nine months to the end of September — an increase of 1.8 per cent compared with the same period last year.
It will need to deliver a further 273 aircraft in the final three months of the year to meet its full-year target.
Although Airbus usually speeds up deliveries towards the end of the year, analysts had previously questioned whether it would be able to meet its goal given the strained supply chain.
The challenges have hampered Airbus’ ability to take full advantage of the problems faced by its arch-rival Boeing.
The US aerospace and defence group raised $21.2bn from investors this year as it seeks to shore up its balance sheet following a damaging strike that has stopped production at its key factories in Washington state. Boeing had delivered 291 commercial aircraft by the end of September.
Airbus on Wednesday reiterated its previous guidance that it expected to report adjusted earnings before interest and tax of €5.5bn for the full year. Free cash flow before mergers and acquisitions, and customer financing, is due to come in at about €3.5bn.
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