Pre-Pandemic Level Productivity Still Years Away, Airbus CEO Says

Airbus CEO and GIFAS president Guillaume Faury, speaking at the French aerospace association’s annual press conference on May 6, said that since the COVID-19 pandemic, productivity has degraded, and it will take years for Airbus to regain 2019 levels.

Over the last few years, supply chain issues have hidden the growing discrepancy between the increasing number of employees in Airbus’ commercial aircraft division—97,400 as of Dec. 31, 2024, up from 81,000 five years before—and decreasing deliveries—766 aircraft in 2024, down from 863 in 2019.

The problem extends industry-wide, as GIFAS members combined totaled 222,000 employees as of the end of 2024, up from 202,000 before the crisis, without a consistent total production growth. The issue does not show in revenues: due to inflation, GIFAS members surpassed 2019, at €77.9 billion ($88 billion) in 2024. Until productivity is back, the suboptimal situation may continue to have a negative impact on profitability and therefore the airframer’s ability to invest.

“COVID seriously degraded productivity, which has not been back to its 2019 level, by far,” Faury said. “At Airbus, our objective is to recover that level. It will take several years.”

He blamed the disorganization the pandemic induced, the supply chain’s predicament—component delivery delays that reduced efficiency—and the high number of new employees. “They are often more savvy on digital tools but have little knowledge in aerospace, meaning it takes time to train them,” Faury said.

Clementine Gallet, president of GIFAS’s Aero PME committee for small suppliers, concurred. “A number of production support experts—manufacturing methods specialists, for instance—left in 2020,” she said. “They contribute to competitiveness on the shop floor, and it takes longer to train them.” At least, she added, other production workers can reach a high level of performance in their job in 1-2 years, a transition phase that small companies have completed.

Faury also questioned organization in offices. Working remotely impinges on creativity, where working together in person is needed, he pointed out. “With social expectations, we have yet to strike a balance,” he said.