Production facilities which were earlier used for its A380 aircrafts will now handle its A320 line of aircrafts.
According to Tom Williams, Airbus’s Chief Operating Officer for its A320 programme, the company is in the process of cutting costs for its A380 superjumbo jet by redeploying some of its overheads to the expanding A320 programme.
During an annual media briefing, Williams said a fourth assembly line for the A320neo is likely to be created in a building that was previously used for the A380.
In a strategic move, Airbus is trying to substantially reduce the A380’s cost profile so as to maintain, a recently achieved, breakeven level. Of late, weak sales have acted as a pressure point on its deliveries.
Williams underscored the point that Airbus plans on delivering nearly 650 aircrafts in 2016, despite a slow start for its A350 and its narrow-body A320neo aircrafts.
He went on to add, Airbus plans on delivering more than 50 A350s in 2016 as well as augment the production capacity of the A320 family to 60 a month by mid-2019. These “very large challenges,” are the ones Airbus will be facing, in the near future, said Williams to reporters.
Categories: Entrepreneurship, HR & Organization, Strategy
Leave a Reply