Airbus launches cost cuts to 'save 2024' after output woes
New Airbus performance-improvement plan dubbed 'LEAD!'
Plan seeks quick action on unit costs, boost in future productivity
Planemaking CEO warns staff rival Boeing will bounce back radically improved
Rewrites introduction, adds more details from paragraph 7
By Tim Hepher
PARIS, July 12 (Reuters) -Airbus AIR.PA has launched a programme of cost cuts and a freeze on overall headcount to shore up performance at its core planemaking business in 2024 and beyond, weeks after being forced to cut targets for jet production, industry sources said.
Code-named "LEAD!", the new initiative will urgently tackle an increase in costs per aircraft and address deeper productivity issues as the world's largest planemaker braces for the eventual recovery of struggling U.S. rival Boeing BA.N.
Some positions may disappear and the overall number of posts will be capped but the company does not plan a "conventional" redundancy plan, planemaking CEO Christian Scherer said in a memo to staff, according to the industry sources.
Costs will be examined "without taboo" but there will be no change of strategy, he added.
An Airbus spokesperson declined to comment on internal memos but confirmed the existence of a performance-improvement plan.
"In view of the continued pressure in the supply chain as well as the overall complex economic situation, there is a need to concentrate our efforts on the fundamentals," the spokesperson said.
In the memo, Scherer predicted that Boeing's ongoing corporate and industrial crisis would force Airbus' main rival to "radically change for the better," the sources said.
He also drew attention to the steady rise of China as a competitor with strong state backing and a big domestic market.
'SAVE 2024'
Scherer, who stepped up from chief commercial officer to planemaking CEO in January, blamed "a few of our key suppliers" for recent output problems but acknowledged the company's core industrial activities have also been lagging, the sources said.
Last month, Airbus cut delivery forecasts and slowed its production ramp-up, citing shortages of engines, interiors and some aerostructures. The move came after a resurgence of industrial problems first reported by Reuters in May.
Staff have been told the first aim of the "LEAD!" initiative is to "save 2024" in terms of deliveries and costs, which have been deviating from their budgeted trajectory, the sources said.
The project is also designed to capture more of the growth in airliner demand and improve efficiency over the longer term.
Coupled with planned increases in production, the freeze on the overall headcount suggests a crackdown on white-collar posts and some secondary projects, the sources said.
At the same time as targeting office jobs, Airbus has also been facing a problem of absenteeism in its factories, as the industry struggles to retain workers following the pandemic.
Reporting by Tim Hepher
Editing by Mark Potter and Susan Fenton
Mga Kaugnay na Asset
Pinakabagong Balita
Disclaimer: Ang mga kabilang sa XM Group ay nagbibigay lang ng serbisyo sa pagpapatupad at pag-access sa aming Online Trading Facility, kung saan pinapahintulutan nito ang pagtingin at/o paggamit sa nilalaman na makikita sa website o sa pamamagitan nito, at walang layuning palitan o palawigin ito, at hindi din ito papalitan o papalawigin. Ang naturang pag-access at paggamit ay palaging alinsunod sa: (i) Mga Tuntunin at Kundisyon; (ii) Mga Babala sa Risk; at (iii) Kabuuang Disclaimer. Kaya naman ang naturang nilalaman ay ituturing na pangkalahatang impormasyon lamang. Mangyaring isaalang-alang na ang mga nilalaman ng aming Online Trading Facility ay hindi paglikom, o alok, para magsagawa ng anumang transaksyon sa mga pinansyal na market. Ang pag-trade sa alinmang pinansyal na market ay nagtataglay ng mataas na lebel ng risk sa iyong kapital.
Lahat ng materyales na nakalathala sa aming Online Trading Facility ay nakalaan para sa layuning edukasyonal/pang-impormasyon lamang at hindi naglalaman – at hindi dapat ituring bilang naglalaman – ng payo at rekomendasyon na pangpinansyal, tungkol sa buwis sa pag-i-invest, o pang-trade, o tala ng aming presyo sa pag-trade, o alok para sa, o paglikom ng, transaksyon sa alinmang pinansyal na instrument o hindi ginustong pinansyal na promosyon.
Sa anumang nilalaman na galing sa ikatlong partido, pati na ang mga nilalaman na inihanda ng XM, ang mga naturang opinyon, balita, pananaliksik, pag-analisa, presyo, ibang impormasyon o link sa ibang mga site na makikita sa website na ito ay ibibigay tulad ng nandoon, bilang pangkalahatang komentaryo sa market at hindi ito nagtataglay ng payo sa pag-i-invest. Kung ang alinmang nilalaman nito ay itinuring bilang pananaliksik sa pag-i-invest, kailangan mong isaalang-alang at tanggapin na hindi ito inilaan at inihanda alinsunod sa mga legal na pangangailangan na idinisenyo para maisulong ang pagsasarili ng pananaliksik sa pag-i-invest, at dahil dito ituturing ito na komunikasyon sa marketing sa ilalim ng mga kaugnay na batas at regulasyon. Mangyaring siguruhin na nabasa at naintindihan mo ang aming Notipikasyon sa Hindi Independyenteng Pananaliksik sa Pag-i-invest at Babala sa Risk na may kinalaman sa impormasyong nakalagay sa itaas, na maa-access dito.
