Major global aircraft manufacturer Airbus Commercial Aircraft is maintaining a steady course. "I don't have any big news, good or bad," company President and CEO Fabrice Bregier told international aviation journalists in Toulouse, France, on Thursday.
"We're in track," he reported. "The order book is still good. The year 2013/[20]14 was the best in our history. We're on track with deliveries of the A350. The three aircraft we've delivered work well. The developments are also on track -- the A330neo [new engine option], the A320neo, the [A]350-1000, which will be a fantastic machine."
Regarding the A380 Superjumbo, "[t]he market is probably more limited than we expected. But we are on track to break even this year. John [Leahy, COO: customers] is very confident that the market will order more aircraft".
It has already been announced, he pointed out, that production of the A330 wide-body airliner will be temporarily reduced to six aircraft a month next year. This is part of the process of transitioning production to the new A330neo version. The 242 t maximum take-off weight version of the A330 was launched in July 2012 (and the first example was delivered to US carrier Delta Air Lines at Toulouse on Thursday evening). Under development are the high density version of the A321 single-aisle airliner and the long-range A321LR model.
"You will say it's pretty boring. I'm very happy to have a pretty boring Airbus!" he affirmed. "All this means that, yes, we have shifted from big programmes to incremental development." However, this strategy allows Airbus to react faster to developments in market demand. Consequently, the company will maintain this incremental approach.
The company is also developing a network of "BizLabs". In these, Airbus personnel will work with small companies, including start-ups, to develop and adapt technologies, to apply them to the aerospace sector. The idea is that this system will allow the development of niche technologies that would never have made it through Airbus's normal innovation process. This idea has been trialled in Toulouse and will, in the coming months, be extended to Hamburg in Germany and Bangalore in India, where Airbus already has an engineering centre, directly employing some 300 engineers.
"Airbus is doing well," affirmed Bregier. "We have the potential to do better. Our customers are doing well. ... There are still a lot of opportunities in Asia. There are challenges but, all in all, I think Airbus is in a positive trend."
Keith Campbell attended the Airbus Innovation Day 2015, in Toulouse, as a guest of the company.