Airbus has cast doubt on the pace of recovery at French
cabin equipment supplier Zodiac Aerospace, saying the company was still
"in the ditch" despite repeated pledges to resolve output delays.
Source: Eric Piermont
The comments came in a rare public warning from Airbus
CEO Fabrice Bregier, who accused Zodiac's management of being "in
denial" as it waded through repeated delays and profit warnings related to
seat production last year.
Bregier told an annual news conference he expected
improvements from Zodiac this year after the plane maker "suffered a
lot" in 2015, including missing a target for A350 deliveries due to delays
in receiving toilets made by Zodiac.
Reflecting Airbus concerns that Zodiac needed to focus on
its existing order book, Bregier took the unusual step of announcing that it
had been removed as a supplier on the A330neo.
He said the company wanted suppliers that "do the
job" and while this was the case for 99%, there were occasionally some
which failed to live up to this.
"Last year it was clearly Zodiac," Bregier said.
"We expect they will manage to do a lot better this
year, especially as A350 deliveries are linked to their performance on
lavatories and seats."
He added: "Yes, it is a message, but they know it
already."
Zodiac's troubles reflect the problems of executing
orders driven by fierce competition between aircraft interior suppliers,
alongside rapid increases in aircraft production.
The industry is on high alert to find out whether
Zodiac's problems at a recently acquired US plant are isolated or reflect deeper
strains in the global supply chain.
Bregier said problems in the supply of interior equipment
went beyond Zodiac, but were in a more ordinary category.
Zodiac confirmed last month it was behind schedule in
supplying toilets for the A350, but said resolving the delays would take only a
few months.
Based on the article “Airbus Steps Up Pressure On Zodiac”
published in Reuters.
At last, Fabrice Bregier has named the culprit for its delays.Its a pity that Airbus cant go elsewhere, this company(Zodiac) as well as affecting Airbus,it also affects all the other suppliers to Airbus,in that delays of the A350 affect their outputs and job prospects for workers. This is a very serious situation for Airbus, who, where ever possible should take work away from Zodiac. Its a real shame, the A350 is such a good aircraft-to be held to ransom like this is horendous.
ReplyDeleteWondering what core problem Zodiac has that all the help available couldn't bring it about on a new tack.
DeleteIt is a rare event when Airbus goes public on supplier issues in contrast to others who push these external reasons forward to mask their own failures.
Aibus has been very successful in mitigating supplier problems in the past. Even those that were caused by Boeing's mismanagement.
I'm in agreement Uwe, though Fabrice Bregier himself says that the management is in 'denial' suggests that the problem lies right there.
ReplyDeleteIf Zodiac are not meeting agreed schedules, what's stopping Airbus going elsewhere?
ReplyDeleteHey what a brilliant post I have come across and believe me I have been searching out for this similar kind of post for past a week and hardly came across this. Thank you very much and will look for more postings from you.
ReplyDeleteAerospace