Airbus Cuts 2025 Delivery Target Following Discovery Of Fuselage Flaw
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Featured image: Airbus China
Airbus has revised down its 2025 aircraft delivery target following the discovery of defective fuselage panels used on some of its A320-family jets. The announcement comes just days after the aerospace manufacturer disclosed an unrelated issue also affecting the A320 line.
Originally, Airbus expected to deliver up to a total of 820 units at the end of 2025, but will now lower that estimate to 790. This comes after they discovered quality control issues with metal panels used as part of the fuselage on some of its A320-family aircraft.
“Based on a recent supplier quality issue on fuselage panels impacting its A320 Family delivery flow, Airbus SE is providing an update to its commercial aircraft delivery guidance for 2025.”
According to Reuters, Airbus discovered that panels used for the forward and rear sections of the fuselage on some of its aircraft may either be too thick or too thin. As a result, they have identified 628 aircraft for further inspection, but added that the issue may only affect a smaller subset within that batch.
Of the 628 aircraft, 168 are already in service, while 245 are in final production, with the remaining 215 still being in the early stages of assembly. The issue was traced back to a manufacturing problem by one of Airbus’ third-party suppliers responsible for the production of these fuselage skins.
They have since rectified the issue, and replacement panels have been produced according to the recommended specifications. Unlike the Elevator aileron computer (ELAC) issue which required urgent attention, Airbus does not feel this warrants as serious of a reaction. However, with the majority of identified aircraft still on the production line, they will still change those fuselage panels before delivery.
Reuters and the Air Current report that repair times could vary from between just a few hours, to as long as three to five weeks. With that in mind, you can see why Airbus has reduced it yearly target.
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