Safran boss sees aircraft manufacturer in ‘unprecedented supply crisis’

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LONDON/PARIS (dpa-AFX) – According to estimates by the French engine manufacturer SAFRAN, the shortage of parts at aircraft manufacturers and suppliers is likely to continue into next year. “We have to fight every day to get the (necessary) parts. That applies to saffron and also to the entire industry,” said saffron boss Olivier Andriès of the “Financial Times” (Wednesday). “We are emerging from the unprecedented demand crisis of 2020.” Now the demand is back, but there is an unprecedented supply crisis. “We’ve never seen anything like it,” said the manager. Airbus boss Guillaume Faury had already said at the beginning of May that the bottlenecks in the industry could last until 2024 or even 2025.

Safran builds engines for medium-haul jets from Airbus (Airbus SE (ex EADS)) and Boeing in the CFM joint venture with the US group General Electric. While CFM’s leap engines are used on every Boeing 737 Max, they have a market share of about half on Airbus’ A320neo model family. Airbus customers can choose between the Leap engine and the geared turbofan engine from Raytheon Technologies subsidiary (Raytheon Technologies) Pratt & Whitney, on which the Munich engine manufacturer MTU (MTU Aero Engines) is also collaborating.

The bottlenecks in important components and materials are likely to slow down the expansion of aircraft production. “I would like to say that it will be over in three months,” said Andriès. “But that’s not true… it will last.” The companies in the industry had cut thousands of jobs during the Corona crisis. Now they are struggling to find enough new employees.

The sanctions against Russia because of its war of aggression against Ukraine also have consequences for aircraft production. To diversify its sourcing of raw materials, Safran, along with Airbus and Tikehau Capital, bought French steel parts maker Aubert & Duval earlier this year. However, Saffron continues to source titanium from Russia. The metal has not yet come under the sanctions. A change of supplier takes time, said Andriès. The reason is the complicated certification of materials used for critical aircraft parts./stw/mis/jha/