Airbus to ramp up production at the U.S plants amidst the threats of increased tariffs

On Thursday, Airbus, the largest European airplane manufacturer, revealed that it will be increasing production of its A320 narrow-body jetliners in the U.S at its plant, Mobile Ala. With the start of 2021, from manufacturing five planes a month, airbus will be producing seven aircrafts a month, after planes made in Europe were threatened by a rise in tariffs resulting in increased prices for U.S. clients if they purchase the planes from the European market.

Airbus Surpassed Boeing To Become The World’s Largest Plane Manufacturer

Airbus recently surpassed its U.S rival, Boeing, and became the largest plane manufacturer of the world. Boeing’s performance in the last year remained under pressure due to the ban on its 737 Max jetliner following two fatal crashes within a short period of five months.

As per a company representative, Airbus is currently struggling to keep up with the increased demand that fueled the decision of expanding production, in the first place. Airbus had previously failed to deliver the A320 jets to its major customers like Jetblue Airways due to complications at the factory that caused delays.

According to the announced target, Airbus is aiming at producing 63 A320 jets on a monthly basis with the start of the next year. The company further added that it plans on initiating the production of an all-new Airbus A220, a narrow-body small plane that is likely to add 275 new vacancies at the Airbus mobile factory in 2021.

U.S Had Threatened To Impose Punitive Tariffs On Airbus In October

Following the European government’s illegal subsidies and grants to Airbus, the U.S had threatened in October to impose punitive tariffs on the European aircraft manufacturer. The 15-year-old dispute has also contributed to Airbus’s decision to ramp up its production of U.S made planes.

Airbus and Boeing both have yet to make deliveries for single-aisle jets used for medium and short-haul flights which may take them several years into the next decade. Following the ban of Boeing’s 737 Max, the manufacturer hasn’t been able to make a single delivery. Only recently, Boeing had also announced that production will be paused completely with the start of the new year for as long as the ban isn’t lifted by the FAA.

Currently, Airbus is yet to deliver more than 6,600 narrow-body planes and the aircraft manufacturer has until the end of November to do so.