Speaking ahead of the Farnborough International Airshow 2024 at a media event, Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury said its widebody demand is ""very strong"" with a ""very good order intake last year."" He added: ""There's a lot of demand for great widebodies and that's really important for us at Airbus.""
In addition, the company's CEO of its commercial aircraft business Christian Scherer said: ""We're seeing some signs of declining yields and a little bit of overcapacity in the US."" Airline have reported softening yields in recent quarterly earnings, however Scherer said Airbus has ""not yet seen repercussions on demand"".
Scherer also commented on its new initiative 'LEAD' - first reported by Reuters after it saw internal staff memos and industry sources - which would reportedly cut costs and freeze hiring to boost its results. The outlet reported the imitative was a means of tackling aircraft manufacturing cost increases as well as to prepare for the recovery of its US rival Boeing. The OEM did not reportedly plan any redundancies.
Scherer clarified: ""It's not a cost cutting programme... it's an adaptation to the recognition that our ramp up is under pressure."" He explained Airbus had ""invested heavily"" into its ramp up but costs were ""a little bit higher"" than originally forecast. As a result, there will be ""a little bit of a divergence of trajectory"". He explained with a hypothetical: ""What do you do? You react and you go to the gym and you work out and come out stronger. So, it is not just a cost cutting exercise. It is one that addresses the unforeseen pain points in the supply chain.""
Scherer said the move is ""putting ourselves into higher efficiency and it's a normal reaction of management"".
Strong demand for widebodies, some ""signs of declining"" airline yields, says Airbus
