Airbus has launched a cost-cutting program and a total headcount freeze to bolster the performance of its core aircraft manufacturing business in 2024 and beyond, weeks after being forced to cut jet production targets, industry sources said.
Codenamed “LEAD!”, the new initiative will urgently address rising per-plane costs and solve deeper productivity problems as the world’s largest planemaker braces for an eventual takeover from U.S. rival Boeing.
Some jobs may disappear and the total number of positions will be limited, but the company does not expect a “conventional” layoff plan, CEO Christian Scherer said in a note to employees, according to industry sources.
The costs will be analyzed “without taboos”, but there will be no change in strategy, the executive added.
An Airbus spokeswoman declined to comment on internal memos but confirmed that a plan to improve performance was in place.
“SAVE 2024”
Scherer, who in January moved from commercial director to CEO of the planemaker, blamed “some of our key suppliers” for recent production problems, but acknowledged that the company’s core industrial operations were also lagging, the sources said.
Last month, Airbus lowered its delivery forecasts and slowed its production ramp-up, citing shortages of engines, interiors and some aerostructures.
The team was informed that the first goal of the “LEAD!” project is to “save 2024” in terms of deliveries and costs, which according to sources have deviated from the estimated trajectory.
The project is also designed to capture a greater share of the growth in commercial aircraft demand and improve long-term efficiency.
Source: Terra
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