Airbus HQ
If it were not for the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX, the slow delivery process for the A320neo family would be the headline for the industry. Last month, the company delivered 18 A320neos and only 6 A321neos, with only 31 deliveries in total across all aircraft families. Orders continue to be strong at Airbus, which has fallen behind on deliveries to multiple major airlines.
It now appears that Delta will receive only one A321neo in 2020, versus a planned 16. Deliveries to American, JetBlue, and other international carriers are delayed, as Airbus has been unable to ramp-up production rapidly enough due to complications with assembling their Airbus Cabin Flex (ACF) interiors that have multiple variations. The company is converting the A380 facility in Toulouse to be an A321 assembly line, in an effort to increase capacity in the near term.
Airbus plans to ramp A320neo family production, currently scheduled for 63 per month in 2021, then another 2 in 2022 and another 2 in 2023 to reach 67 per month. The company plans to deliver 880 commercial aircraft in 2020, up 2% over the 863 from last year.
