Here you go:
””Airbus is gearing up to increase the production rate of the A350 from 2018’s planned 10/mo to 13/mo, perhaps as early as the following year, LNC has learned.
The move follows Boeing’s announcement in September that it will increase the production of the 787 from the current 12/mo to 14/mo in 2019.
Airbus is producing the A330 at a rate of 6/mo.
Rate hike long studiedThat Airbus has been looking at a production rate of the 13/mo for the A350 is not news. The capacity was built into the new A350 assembly site in Toulouse and several years ago, Electroimpact—which makes the wings at the Airbus Broughton, Wales, plant—revealed it had the capacity to produce 13 shipsets a month.
John Leahy, the Airbus COO-Customers, has for several years urged the company to increase the rate. Sales of the A350 have largely stalled because production slots are sold out into the early 2020s. Recent orders have been accommodated through shifting the skyline via deferrals of some airlines, including American, Delta and United in the USA.
Market share battleThe Airbus move is part of a fierce battle for market share between Airbus and Boeing.
Aerospace analysts who attended the Boeing investors day last month at the 787 production plant in Charleston (SC) said that while company officials said market demand will support the rate hike for 18-24 months or more, one reason for the boost was he absence of production slots for the 787. Boeing officials feared customers would be driven to Airbus as a result.
The rate hike also helps Boeing meet margin guidance (the extra 2/mo is worth one-half a point in profit margin, one analyst told LNC), it also helps pay down the billions of dollars in deferred production costs.
By boosting the rate to 14/mo in 2019—a move that typically takes place in mid-year—Boeing will have a wide body delivery rate of 17.5/mo in 2020.
The 777 line will be in transition then from the 777 Classic to the 777X. While Boeing says the production rate will be 5.5/mo, the delivery rate will be 3.5/mo as production of the 777X ramps up and the rate for the 777 Classic ramps down.
Over at Airbus, boosting the A350 rate to 13/mo means a wide body production rate of 19/mo, if the A330 rate can be maintained.
Sales of the A330neo have been hard to come by with continuing low fuel prices. Airbus, like Boeing, is counting on a surge in wide body orders within the next two or three years as the in-service fleet begins hitting 25 years old in the early 2020 decade.
However, an analysis by LNC last month shows almost 200 more airplanes are already scheduled for delivery in the 2021-2024 period than there are wide bodies hitting retirement age. The next surge in 25-year old aircraft starts in 2030, the analysis shows.
Airbus may be hoping the planned launch of the 251 tonne A330-900, which will boost range to an advertised 7,000nm, will help sales.
LNC revealed last week the improved version is coming. A formal announcement is expected concurrent with the first flight of the A330neo.
The 251 tonne A330-900 and the A350 production rate increase were revealed on an obscure page of the Airbus website.
