French planemaker Airbus is “not happy” concerning the multitude of issues going through its U.S. rival Boeing, in accordance with its chief monetary officer.
“We’re not happy with the issues that our competitor’s having. I think it’s not helpful for the industry, and if it’s not helpful for the industry, it’s not helpful for Airbus,” Thomas Toepfer informed CNBC’s Charlotte Reed in an interview Thursday.
“We do think that we have very good products. And we have seen this in the very good order intake that we’ve seen in 2023. And that is simply continuing also in 2024.”
Boeing is beneath intense stress following a collection of pricey and reputationally-damaging incidents. A door plug in one among its 737 Max 9 plane blew out throughout an Alaska Airways flight on Jan. 5, over which it’s now going through a lawsuit and a Federal Aviation Administration investigation.
That got here after two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 involving the 737-Max, its bestselling plane, which dented public belief within the firm and raised severe questions on its tradition and high quality management processes.
The fuselage plug space of Alaska Airways Flight 1282 Boeing 737-9 MAX, which was compelled to make an emergency touchdown with a spot within the fuselage, is seen throughout its investigation by the Nationwide Transportation Security Board (NTSB) in Portland, Oregon, U.S. January 7, 2024.
NTSB | By way of Reuters
Considerations have in the meantime mounted that planemakers are beneath an excessive amount of stress to extend the velocity of manufacturing as airways face a capability crunch.
Toepfer informed CNBC: “The way I would look at it is … it’s a factor that makes us even think more, how can we make sure that these things will never happen at Airbus?”
“We’re obsessed by the thought, and therefore we have put even more scrutiny in terms of our production processes. We have even put more emphasis on the long-term investments that we’re making in terms of products, but also technology. And I think that has served us very well in the past, we’re continuing exactly along this path.”
Aviation bosses — a lot of whom have massive excellent Boeing orders — have typically expressed their ongoing confidence within the firm over the past six years of turmoil. Nonetheless, a bunch of airline chief executives not too long ago requested a gathering with Boeing’s board to precise their concern over the Alaska Airways fiasco and manufacturing points, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
Michael O’Leary, the outspoken head of low-cost provider Ryanair, sharply criticized Boeing’s dealing with of the 737 Max disaster and its management in an interview with Skift this week.
Like different airways, Ryanair has made the highly-efficient, single-aisle jet core to its development and fleet renewal technique.
