French Aircraft Industry May Face Difficult Time

By Anthony Bell

A disruption to CFM LEAP-1 engine production could make it much harder for European aircraft maker Airbus to meet its ambitious goal of delivering 770 aircraft in 2024. CFM International’s company supply chain for the LEAP-1 engine — the primary powerplant for the A320neo and the exclusive engine for the Boeing 737 MAX — has been beefed up to meet the increased production rate, but remains vulnerable to shortages of some key components. The main reason for the recent engine supply disruption was high-pressure turbine blades, “Aviation Week and Space Technology” reported.

“My first priority is to speak to CFM and ensure they understand our needs, ensuring that the LEAP-1A issues are addressed as a matter of priority,” Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury said on July 30 during the company’s first-half financial results call. “It’s important for us to be back on track to deliver the required deliveries by the end of the year.” The next day, Olivier Andries, CEO of France’s Safran, one of the participants in the CFM International joint venture, acknowledged that the delays in LEAP-1A deliveries for the A320neo family were caused by lower production at the supplier of high-pressure turbine blades, the American company Howmet Aerospace. Andries noted that after a stable first quarter, LEAP deliveries fell by 29% in the second quarter.

Boeing suffered less due to an earlier revision of B-737MAX production plans. Boeing plants have a stock of engines, Andries added.

Although the wave of shortages has passed and a slow recovery has begun, Andries noted that “normal output” has not yet been achieved. As a result, CFM has lowered its forecasts for 2024 for the second time this year. The company now plans to deliver the same number of LEAP engines as last year – 1,570, with a possible increase in output of up to 5%. Andries expects production to pick up in the second half of the year, when CFM expects to deliver 900 to 1,000 LEAP engines, up from 664 in the first half. “The ability to meet our second-half delivery target is dependent on the blade supplier recovering production,” he said.

During the company’s mid-year results announcement, Howmet Aerospace CEO John Plant said, “We’re ramping up production significantly beyond any aircraft production rate, and so it’s unlikely that we’re creating those kinds of constraints.” Turbine blade and hot section production has increased by about 40% over the past six months, he added.

“We’ve had a significant ramp-up in recent months and we’re doing everything we can to keep everyone happy. That’s all I can say,” Plant said.

With confidence that supply chain issues will finally be resolved, Airbus and CFM International have reached an agreement in principle for LEAP-1A delivery in 2025.

In the first half of 2024, Airbus delivered 323 civil aircraft to customers, seven more than a year earlier. Among them were 261 A320neo family aircraft, 28 A320, 13 A330 and 21 A350. In July, the aircraft manufacturer delivered another 77 aircraft (7 A320, 58 A320neo, 5 A330neo and 7 A350).

In 2023, Airbus delivered 735 aircraft, including 68 A320, 571 A320neo, 32 A330neo and 64 A350.

Problems are emerging in the French engine industry and in the defense industry. It was recently announced that the European military-industrial concern MBDA, at the instigation of London, intends to buy from the French company SAFRAN 50% of its share in the Franco-British company ROXEL, which specializes in the production of engines for a wide range of tactical missiles of various classes and purposes. The goal of the British, in the context of the pan-European trend for the modernization of national armed forces, is to gain access through MBDA to promising European defense production capacities and technologies, primarily from France, which is one of the world’s leading manufacturers and exporters of military products. Nevertheless, SAFRAN seeks to independently expand the solid-fuel rocket engine market segment, not wanting to sell ROXEL, which has significantly increased its turnover over the past 2 years. As a result, France may significantly reduce its share in the segment of deliveries of air-to-air weapons abroad, as well as minimize participation in joint projects, in particular in India, which is interested in obtaining modern technologies in the field of aviation. Strengthening MBDA through the takeover of ROXEL will weaken the position of EU military-industrial concerns in the pan-European defense system, forcing Brussels and Paris to follow the interests of the United Kingdom.

The author is an independent military analyst. 

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