Improvements are being seen in the supply chain and suppliers are being evaluated to understand their difficulties and provide required support, said a senior executive of Airbus. Supply chain bottlenecks, triggered by a spate of factors including geopolitical uncertainties, are resulting in aircraft delivery delays, increased time of maintenance works and shortage of parts at a time when airlines are looking to expand their fleets to cater to the rising air traffic demand. Sharing his view on supply chain, Airbus Asia Pacific President Anand Stanley said the key issue is that Covid had been disruptive to the suppliers and the focus post-pandemic has been to ramp up, grow and stabilise the production of the suppliers.
“Looking at the situation in relation to 2025, we are seeing an improvement in our supply chain. This year, we see an improvement at all levels and we, as Airbus, are fully committed to delivering the next steps of our aircraft production ramp-up,” he said in an interaction with PTI in Bangkok last month.A study by the aviation body IATA and consultant Oliver Wyman projected that supply chain constraints are forecast to sour the global airline sector by over USD 11 billion in the current year, influenced by four parameters: “high fuel costs, higher maintenance outlays, higher costs of leasing engines, and higher costs of inventory holding.”Airbus has “set up ‘watch towers’ to assess their suppliers and see who is struggling and assist them,” he told PTI.
“The concept of watchtowers is one that we have particularly focused on addressing challenges specifically because of the pandemic, and this has been one of the tools that have been used for us to assess our suppliers and the level of performance that they are able to do, and then how we might work with them if need be, to offer support.” “A watchtower is a process that we use within Airbus that enables us to address challenges, help our suppliers specifically in terms of performance,” Stanley explained. Adding that this is “a complex industry environment, yet there are areas where Airbus discusses funding support.”
This month, the International Air Transport Association has reported that it is expected that the airline woes that deal with the availability of their supply chain will continue for eight more years, as there is already a delivery backlog of at least 5,300 planes, while costs for airlines are increasing.
