A220 handover
Airbus has been struggling to stabilize the A220 program. The talk has been around the supply chain stress. There are few details but we can provide an illustration of the impacts the program has gone through.
Program History
This chart shows how Airbus has had to work through various challenges to get to where it is today.
AirInsight
The cumulative deliveries show a reasonably smooth process. There’s a slowdown in 2020 that is readily understood. The delivery curve does not look as steep as the A320neo family, and that too is understandable.
Blame Game
Obvious items to explain some of these wild swings in average delivery days starts with Pratt & Whitney. But there’s other issues that are less obvious. The very high spikes are special events. For example, IBOM (Nigeria) took delivery of an airplane 1,449 (5N-CDB) days after first flight. This aircraft was originally destined for Air Senegal and then recovered by Macquarie AirFinance and then sold to Ibom.
The spikiness in delivery days therefore represents more than just supply chain challenges. There are also customer issues. The Air Senegal link above is but one example. Airbus has a wide customer base compared to Boeing, and while this is, on the face of it, a good thing. It comes with all sorts of extra risks.
Fixing Issues
Coming back to the A220 program overall, Airbus seems to have improved its production processes considerably. Notice the gaps in the calendar. Its more spotty than Airbus would like, but reflects the issues we mentioned.
Look across the months to see if there is improvement over time. These numbers are also spottier than the OEM, its supply chain or customers want to see. Looking at the table and considering the image heading this story, you are forgiven a smile. Bombardier solved a problem, Airbus inherited it. None of those gents are around the program anymore.
Looking Ahead
Airbus has plans to raise A220 production to 14 per month. They are getting closer. They are also making deliveries faster this year than last; averaging 17 days per delivery this year to 40 last year. The program is doing better, but it backlog is not large enough to be comfortable. They need to sell more, but customers are rightly wary. Unfortunately, the alternative to the A220 won’t get delivered any faster. And as for the long awaited, A220 stretch, keep waiting.
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