Airbus To Make Vital A350 Decision

Airbus will soon make a vital decision on expanding its A350 programme, as pressure mounts over its backlog and finances.

The planemaker’s commercial chief, Lars Wagner, said the decision will come soon, as the programme needs to increase production to address capacity constraints.

Board approval is still required to increase A350 production, but this is expected; however, some concerns persist about the widebody and what has become the manufacturer’s largest in-production jet.

Why Airbus must increase A350 production.

Airbus’ rationale for increasing A350 production has been clear from the start: the market supports and demands more aircraft; thus, scaling A350 output is inevitable. However, the decision isn’t as simple as pulling a lever; it’s a major undertaking that requires clear communication.

Airbus has publicly expressed its target before, saying it hopes to produce 12 A350s per month by 2028. The planemaker has outlined production targets across all commercial airplane divisions, but they have rarely met them in the 2020s because of supply-chain and quality issues.

The expansion of A350 production is now being discussed, and if approved, it would let Airbus move beyond the planned rate of 12 units a month. For that to happen, Airbus must do more than get approval: it must reach the 12-unit target before scaling, then invest to grow beyond it.

What would be a heavy undertaking for Airbus, the risk is slightly lessened by the strong demand that remains for the A350 family. The aircraft has a firm backlog of almost 900 aircraft, and with persistent new orders and options, the jet will be produced well into the 2030s.

Airbus needs more A350 production space

While Airbus wants to scale A350 production to 12 and deems this feasible, concerns arise when it tries to scale beyond that, and investment becomes more necessary. The planemaker is aware that the principal issue is capacity.

Wagner has said the existing A350 assembly line was designed to handle 12 to 13 aircraft per month at capacity. Therefore, if Airbus wants to scale production beyond the existing line’s limitations, it needs to invest in another line and the systems to support the output.

The need for another line therefore makes the decision more significant than simply bringing the monthly rate to the level where the existing facility reaches maximum output and brings investment into the equation. A higher production rate beyond the current A350 output also affects suppliers of parts made in Broughton, Hamburg, Spain, and beyond.

Airbus has already told customers to expect A350 handover delays for the remainder of the decade due to ongoing fuselage component shortages, and disruption then hit its North American facilities acquired from Spirit AeroSystems.

The complications in A350 production, paired with the desire to scale production and invest in improved production lines to handle a higher rate, come after a troubled 2020s headlined by an inability to match ambition with reality.