Airbus announced this Monday the discovery of an industrial quality problem affecting the metal panels of a limited number of A320 family aircraft, confirming a Reuters report. This is the latest challenge for the aircraft manufacturer following the recall of its planes over the weekend.
The company’s shares fell as much as 10%, accelerating earlier losses, as the industrial problem overshadowed the impact of the manufacturer’s decision to ground thousands of A320 planes for a software update. Shares were down 5.6% at 1345 GMT.
In an emailed statement, an Airbus spokesperson said the company was inspecting all potentially affected A320 aircraft and that only a portion of them will require additional measures.
“The source of the problem has been identified and contained, and all new production panels meet all requirements,” the spokesperson stated.
The spokesperson added that this was an issue with the supplier, but declined to identify it. Airbus has internal and external suppliers for its aerostructures.
More context: Airbus will replace the flight system on its best-selling planes
Delays reported after software withdrawal over the weekend
The problems arose as Airbus stepped up efforts to meet ambitious delivery targets for the year and was also distracted by the withdrawal of planes over the weekend due to a software glitch.
The alleged production failure is delaying some deliveries, but there is no immediate indication that it has affected planes in service, industry sources said, asking not to be identified. The source of the problem could not immediately be identified.
Shares in airline customers Lufthansa and easyJet were weighed down by the news, traders reported.
A person with direct knowledge of the matter indicated that some deliveries were already being affected, but there was no immediate confirmation of how many or for how long.
Industry sources said the planemaker delivered 72 aircraft in November, lower than many analysts expected, bringing the year-to-date total to 657.
Its goal is to reach about 820 deliveries for the year, which means it would have to reach a record of more than 160 aircraft in December.
The record for the last month of the year was 138 in 2019.
Will Airbus meet its delivery targets?
Analysts were divided over whether the world’s largest plane maker will meet delivery targets, which determine revenue and cash flow as airlines pay much of the value of a plane upon delivery.
Jefferies analyst Chloe Lemarie, who tracks aircraft deliveries and forecasts 71 deliveries for November, said the month’s performance was lower than expected.
However, the target remains achievable as underlying production is increasing, it added in a note to investors issued before the reported quality issue became known. Independent aviation analyst Rob Morris said Airbus could achieve around 800 deliveries – which others say could be enough to win, depending on the wording of its forecast – but with some risk that the final result will be slightly lower.
With information from Reuters
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