{"text":[[{"start":7.58,"text":"Airbus said it is on track to meet its target to deliver around 870 aircraft by the end of the year, as the world’s largest planemaker seeks to shrug off persistent supply chain constraints that have hampered output."}],[{"start":20.52,"text":"Lars Wagner, chief executive of Airbus’s commercial aircraft division, said he was “confident” that the European group would meet its target, telling reporters in Toulouse on Wednesday that Airbus had “everything in hand to make the figure a reality”."}],[{"start":35.16,"text":"Airbus delivered 547 commercial aircraft in the year to the end of September, leaving it with more than 320 planes to hand over to airline customers over the final three months of the year to meet its target. Targets for delivery by Airbus and its US rival Boeing are closely watched by investors as planemakers typically receive the bulk of their payment from airlines at that time."}],[{"start":58.88,"text":"Airbus has been plagued by production defects and supply chain bottlenecks over the past two years despite surging demand for its best-selling family of A320 narrow-body aircraft — which are sold out for the next eight years. In addition, deliveries of its wide-body A330 jets slowed over the summer after it identified a quality lapse in June in some in-production aircraft."}],[{"start":82.44,"text":"The company on Wednesday highlighted delays from US engine maker Pratt & Whitney for its A320 jets and quality issues with cabin seats as its two main remaining challenges."}],[{"start":92.8,"text":"Pratt & Whitney said it has “increased annual deliveries of new engines since 2019, outpacing the industry and surpassing our overall market share for the fleet. Additionally, we continue to expand MRO [maintenance, repair and overhaul] capacity to support our growing fleet”."}],[{"start":109.22,"text":"Despite the constraints, Wagner backed Airbus’s planned production increases. The company is on track to meet its target to produce 70 to 75 a month of its A320s by the end of 2027. The group also wants to raise output of its long-haul, wide-body aircraft, in particular the A350, beyond the 12-a-month target it has set for 2028."}],[{"start":131.48,"text":"Wagner said on Wednesday that Airbus was continuing to study plans for a larger variant of the A350, the A350-2000, which would be a direct competitor to Boeing’s long-delayed 777X. The 777X was expected to enter service in 2020 but is now set to complete certification by the US federal aviation regulator next year. Airbus is also studying a larger version of its smallest model, the A220 jet."}],[{"start":160.6,"text":"There is “clearly demand . . . for a longer and stretched A220 and . . . for a longer, stretched A350,” he said."}],[{"start":167.66,"text":"The company would look to make decisions “sooner rather than later” on whether to increase the monthly output of the A350, he added, which would require the building of a new final assembly line. Any decisions would be taken well before 2030."}],[{"start":181.32,"text":"Airbus is also pressing ahead with ambitious plans to launch a successor to its A320, described as a “game changer” by Wagner. Planemakers and engine companies are all drawing up plans for new aircraft that will need to consume significantly less fuel if the industry is to meet its net zero climate target while continuing to expand."}],[{"start":199.72,"text":"The company would make a decision on whether to launch a new programme by the end of the decade, said Wagner."}],[{"start":205.28,"text":"Separately, the Airbus forecast that the aviation industry would need to hire an additional 2.44mn workers over the next two decades, including more than 1mn cabin crew, to support its projected growth. The company is keen to garner a greater share of the increasingly lucrative services market for commercial aircraft."}],[{"start":223.76,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1792033844_8839.mp3"}