Let's start with a technical clarification. The parts in question, manufactured by the Spanish firm Sofitec Aero, have an thickness that do not meet requirements, caused by a defect in the drawing-out and milling process. With about 40% of the affected aircraft still in assembly, Airbus engineers must now inspect hundreds of aircraft, throwing the entire delivery schedule into disarray.

This setback comes at the worst possible moment for the manufacturer, as November deliveries had already been "low", in the words of CEO Guillaume Faury. Airbus would have delivered 72 aircraft that month, a figure below expectations. "We had to suspend the delivery of certain completed aircraft but presenting an uncertainty about their panels," Faury acknowledged, adding that the situation could continue into December. Internal meetings are planned to assess the operational impact of this last-minute crisis, at a time when delivery rates are traditionally the most strained.

Series Law?

This technical incident adds to another episode that occupied Airbus teams this weekend: an emergency software update required for thousands of A320s following an in-flight incident at the end of October. The fleet had been temporarily grounded to fix a safety flaw relating to solar eruptions. While the vast majority of aircraft could be modified quickly, this unprecedented recall contributed to further disrupting the company's activity in this already-pressured year-end.

Financial forecasts remain unchanged, a sign of strength

Nevertheless, Airbus is maintaining its financial targets for now: adjusted EBIT of €7bn and free cash flow of €4.5bn for 2025. The market has started to sanction it: the stock logically shed about 7% over two sessions.

At the same time, its major rival Boeing was reporting progress, which sent its stock up about 10% yesterday on Wall Street. A kind of tug-of-war between the two players in one of the largest oligopolies of the past decades. But unlike the American group, which had carefully hidden its problems over a long period of deep industrial crisis, Airbus chose transparency, hoping that the market would credit it, which seems to be the case this morning (the stock rose about 2% shortly after the market opened).

In absolute terms, a delivery delay of this kind is only a modest hiccup in light of the challenges Boeing has faced with its B737 MAX. That said, trouble, it seems, still flies in formation, as the late President Chirac once quipped.