Industry Airbus provides update on production rates during COVID-19

As the Coronavirus is keeping the whole production process in suspense, Airbus needed to take new measures in order to guarantee safety and health of its employees. In a new statement, the manufacturer wrote that it plans to manufacture: 40 Airbus A320 Family aircraft per Month, two Airbus A330 Family aircraft per Month and six A350 XWB aircraft per Month.

All in all, Airbus will reduce the production of roughly one third. With these new rates, the manufacturer preserves its ability to meet customer demand, while simultaneously protecting its ability to adapt in the future.

Airbus Chief Executive Officer Guillaume Faury commented: “The impact of this pandemic is unprecedented. At Airbus, protecting our people and supporting the fight against the virus are our chief priorities at this time. We are in constant dialogue with our customers and supply chain partners as we are all going through these difficult times together [...] Our airline customers are heavily impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. We are actively adapting our production to their new situation and working on operational and financial mitigation measures to face reality.”

Together with its social partners, Airbus is working on the most appropriate social measures to address the current circumstances. Extensive works has been carried out to ensure the health and safety of the workers.

New stringent work processes and standards have been implemented. For example, system-relevant workers who cannot work from home, are being divided in different groups to have a minimum of people at facilities at the same time. This reduces the danger of infecting others.

Airbus has also released new figures for the past month. In March, the manufacturer was able to notice 21 net orders and 36 deliveries. In the first quarter, 290 new orders and 122 deliveries have been exercised.

A further 60 aircraft were produced during the quarter but remain undelivered during the COVID-19 pandemic.