Airbus Group

Airbus manufactures passenger aircraft families with capacities ranging from 100 to more than 600 seats, and also manufactures tanker aircraft, military and transport aircraft in Europe.

Performance indicators

2020:29% decrease in revenue, to 49.9 billion euros, net loss - 1.13 billion euros

At the end of 2020, the revenue of the aerospace corporation Airbus decreased by 29%, reaching 49.9 billion euros, while in 2019 sales amounted to 70.478 billion euros. Airbus ended 2020 with a net loss of 1.13 billion euros, and a year earlier losses were measured at 1.36 billion euros.

Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury acknowledged that the company's 2020 performance was "far from expected" and that the company had to constantly adapt as air carriers stopped flying and did not purchase aircraft due to travel restrictions.

The crisis is not over yet. It's likely to be our reality throughout the year, "Faury said.

He warned that "airlines will continue to" suffer losses "and" burn cash. "

Airbus ends 2020 with a billion-dollar loss due to the collapse of the aviation market

Airbus does not expect the industry to return to pre-pandemic levels until 2023-2025, and when this happens, according to Airbus, environmental issues will become even more important for passengers and airlines, so the company is increasing investment in hydrogen power and low-emission aircraft.

In 2020, Airbus delivered 566 aircraft (863 units were sold in 2019), including 38 copies of the A220, 446 A320 units, 19 A330 units, 59 A350 units and four A380 models.

Airbus capital expenditures at the end of 2020 reached 1.8 billion euros, down 0.6 billion euros compared to 2019.

Approximately 67% of Airbus turnover at the end of 2020 fell on aircraft sales, 12% - helicopters and 21% - products for defense and aerospace projects.

The volume of orders from the company in 2020 amounted to 373 billion euros, of which:

• Europe accounted for 30%;
• for Asia Pacific - 29%;
• to North America - 21%;
• to the Middle East - 9%;
• to Latin America - 5%.

The company received 268 orders for commercial aircraft, up from 768 a year earlier. Both indicators are significantly lower than the normal indicators of recent years, but higher than those of, Boeing notes. Reuters^[1][2]

2018

• In 2018, the company's revenue amounted to 64 billion euros.
• As of the end of 2018, the company had approximately 134,000 employees.

2017

• In 2017, the company's revenue amounted to 67 billion euros.
• As of the end of 2017, the company had about 129,000 employees.

2013

According to the results of 2013, the Group, including Airbus, Airbus Defense and Space and Airbus Helicopters, received income in the amount of 57.6 billion euros (revised figure). At the end of 2013, the Group employed approximately 139,000 people (revised).

History

2024

Laying off thousands of employees due to lack of money

In mid-October 2024, Airbus announced it was cutting up to 2,500 jobs in its military and space technology division, citing a "challenging business environment," rising costs and "rapid changes in warfare practices."

Boeing The European aerospace giant, which rivals the aircraft company, expects to cut some of its workforce by mid-2026. The company did not specify in which countries the cuts will be made, affecting about 1.7% of the total number of employees.

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Bloomberg

Airbus Defense and Space CEO Mike Schelhorn said the layoffs are due to a rapidly changing and highly complex business environment - supply chain disruptions, rapid changes in military practices and growing pressure from budget constraints.

The cuts were a phase in a broader restructuring of the company, which Schelhorn said should make the division "faster, more compact and more competitive."

In recent years, governments have increased defense spending as threats mount. But big traditional defense firms like Airbus, which were supposed to benefit from rising demand, have faced fierce competition. A number of new companies have become alternatives to traditional suppliers who do not have time to deploy rapid developments of new technologies and systems of the next generation.

The planned job cuts are not the only sign of the aircraft manufacturer's problems. In June 2024, Airbus said that because of supply chain disruptions, it had to reduce the number of planes it planned to release this year and next. So far, the problems of a competitor, Boeing, are much larger, but both companies are suffering serious losses.^[3]

Acute shortage of components

Airbus SE is experiencing a shortage of millions of parts from which the company's commercial aircraft are made, and by June 2024 the situation is getting worse.

Airbus has cut a range of long-term targets - from operating profits, cash generation and aircraft transfers to monthly production rates for the important A320 model.

Canada, under pressure from France, allowed Airbus to use Russian titanium despite sanctions

On April 23, 2024, it became known that the Canadian government allowed Airbus to use Russian titanium in its production. This decision was made by the authorities contrary to the sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation in connection with the formed geopolitical situation.

Canada approved sanctions against the Russian metallurgical company VSMPO-Avisma, the world's largest titanium producer, in February 2024. In addition, this company was included in the sanctions list of the US Department of Commerce - in connection with the "production of products for the Russian military industry."

To help Airbus, French President Macron forced Canada to ease titanium sanctions on Russia. He personally persuaded Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to release Airbus and other aerospace companies from sanctions on the Russian titan. A source close to the French leader said Macron had made "significant efforts" to persuade Trudeau to make an exception for European companies.

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Unsplash

In 2022, against the background of a special operation in Ukraine, Airbus announced its intention to abandon the supply of titanium from Russia and increase purchases in the United States and Japan. But, according to Reuters, a ban on the supply of Russian titanium to Canada could jeopardize Airbus production at factories in that country. Therefore, the Canadian authorities provided the company with special permission to purchase raw materials from the Russian Federation.

Airbus is aware that the Canadian government has imposed sanctions on VSMPO-Avisma and has received the necessary permission to ensure the safety of Airbus operations in accordance with the current restrictions, the company said in a statement.

At the same time, it is noted that sanctions against VSMPO-Avisma could create problems when exporting aircraft built abroad using Russian titanium to Canada. In this case, special approvals from local regulators may also be required.

According to The Washington Post, in 2022, VSMPO-Avisma exported about 15 thousand tons of titanium worth $370 million. The largest buyers were companies from Germany, France, the USA and the UK. In 2023, the Russian enterprise exported titanium for $345 million.^[4]

2023: Emirates pulls out of Airbus A350-1000 purchases due to defective Rolls-Royce engines

Emirates president Tim Clark at the Dubai Air Show in November 2023 dashed Airbus' hopes of a major order, saying he would not buy more A350-1000 flagship jets until engine problems were fixed.

Clarke claims the Rolls-Royce engine is "faulty" in its current state.

Airbus remains well behind rival Boeing in its order book in Dubai.

2022

Refusal to supply paid aircraft and return money to Aeroflot

In April 2022, the European aircraft manufacturing concern Airbus refused to supply Aeroflot with two A350 aircraft sold at the end of 2021, but not transferred to the Russian airline. The money received for the planes will also not be returned due to sanctions.

Unwillingness to refuse to import titanium from Russia against the background of the special operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine

In June 2022, Airbus publicly called on the European Union to abandon sanctions on titanium from Russia, writes the Wall Street Journal. The world's largest aircraft manufacturer buys about 65% of titanium from Russia, which is required for critical aircraft components.

"We believe that sanctions against Russian titanium will become sanctions against us," Airbus chief Guillaume Faury said at a conference in Qatar.

Earlier in April 2022, Airbus SE defended its decision to continue importing Russian titanium, arguing that the sanctions would harm aerospace manufacturers. The statement was made during a special operation of Russia in Ukraine.

Russia provides about half of Airbus' titanium needs, directly or through key suppliers.

The company has been stockpiling titanium for years. This provides some respite in the short to medium term, even if the embargo goes into effect.

"We don't think sanctions on imports will be appropriate," Chief Executive Officer Guillaume Faury said. "This will have a minor impact on Russia, but will have big consequences for the rest of the countries and the industry."

2021: Airbus remains biggest planemaker for third year in a row

Airbus remains the largest aircraft manufacturer for the third year in a row. This became known on January 10, 2022, when the company published data on the supply of liners for 2021.

During this period, 88 customers received a total of 611 Airbus aircraft, while in 2020, 566 units of transport were issued to customers. For comparison: Boeing in 2021 handed over 340 airliners to airlines and other buyers, which is more than twice the result of a year ago (157). The weak indicators of 2020 are associated with the consequences of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and plane crashes, as well as with production problems that the American company then faced.

Airbus remains biggest planemaker for third year in a row

If Airbus was ahead of the main competitor in the number of aircraft delivered to customers, then Boeing took the first place in terms of the volume of orders. The latter in 2021 received orders for the production of 909 aircraft, which is 17.9% more than a year earlier, and Airbus had a total of 771 orders.

The most popular aircraft among Airbus customers was the A320neo, for which more than 660 orders were made in 2021. In total, by the end of that year, the European company had 7082 aircraft not yet delivered.

In mid-December 2021, Airbus won a very indicative victory. The Australian airline Quintas, which intends to update its fleet of medium-haul and regional aircraft for domestic flights in the next 13 years, made a fundamental decision to completely replace the American Boings with the European Erbasses. The order volume, including options expected by the end of 2022, could be up to 134 aircraft. We are talking about both various modifications of the A320 Neo family and A220 aircraft.^[5]

2020

Reduction of 15 thousand jobs

In early July 2020, Airbus announced the reduction of 15 thousand jobs in the UK, Germany, Spain and other countries due to the consequences of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. In total, the company employs about 134 thousand people.

The company's management is still discussing these measures with unions, which oppose forced dismissal. The CCOVID-19 pandemic turned into a disaster for the aviation industry, and in April the volume of air traffic decreased by more than 90%. Airbus had to limit production and seek support from the government, but staff cuts eventually re-emerged on the agenda.

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Airbus

The company expects to carry out most of the layoffs by the summer of 2021, but hopes that a significant part of the employees to be cut will leave their jobs voluntarily or as a result of early retirement. Airbus said production was down 40% in spring 2020 and air traffic was unlikely to return to previous levels until 2023.

Airbus is facing the worst crisis the airline industry has ever experienced, chief executive Guillaume Faury said. - The measures taken allowed us to overcome the initial shock. However, now we must keep our enterprise afloat and emerge from the crisis with honor, as befits a global leader in the aerospace industry.

A French government official said:

We understand that a difficult time is coming for Airbus employees and their families and we stand ready to support everyone concerned with this issue in any way we can. We will continue to work closely with the aerospace sector to ensure firms can recover from the crisis.[6]

Airbus to pay billions of euros for bribes

At the end of January 2020, Airbus announced the conclusion with the French, British and American authorities of an agreement on the settlement of proceedings related to bribery. The aerospace giant will pay a hefty fine that will be measured in billions of euros. As the Financial Times clarifies with reference to its sources, we are talking about the amount of about 3 billion euros.

The agreement comes about four years after Airbus first reported an investigation into the company over its involvement of third-party consultants to obtain commercial aircraft orders. The concern emphasizes that at that moment he himself notified the investigators about the situation.

Airbus agreed with three countries to end bribe investigation

The main claim against Airbus was that the company failed to provide the state-owned Export Credit Agency with information on cooperation with intermediaries who arranged credit guarantees to sell Airbus aircraft outside the country.

The first investigation into Airbus was launched by  the UK's Major Fraud Office (SFO) back in mid-2016. The following year , it became known about the start of a similar investigation by the Munich prosecutor's office, and at the end of 2018 the company was notified of its own investigation by the US Department of Justice, although it began an audit against the manufacturer at the end of 2017.

The investigations led to an almost complete change in top management and employees responsible for sales. Airbus provided investigators with several million documents and created a new system of ethics and compliance. In December 2019 , she canceled the publication of a book dedicated to the 50th anniversary of Airbus in order to prevent the disclosure of the secret of the investigation.^[7]

2019

Purchase of the developer of robots for automating the production of aircraft MTM Robotics

In mid-December 2019, French aerospace manufacturer Airbus bought MTM Robotics for an unknown amount. The robotics firm has been partnering with Airbus for more than a decade, so many automated MTM Robotics systems are used at Airbus production sites and the merger will be painless. After the deal, MTM Robotics management will remain unchanged and its main site in Mukilteo, Washington, will continue to operate as normal. Read more here.

Cyberattacks and theft of trade secrets

At the end of September 2019, it became known about a series of cyber attacks on Airbus, as a result of which the attackers managed to steal the commercial secrets of the European manufacturer of airliners.

According to the news agency Agence France Presse (AFP), citing unnamed sources in law enforcement agencies, hackers reached Airbus data through suppliers of the company - aircraft engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce Holdings, engineering firm Expleo Group, etc. In 12 months, at least four cyber attacks were recorded.

Airbus survives series of cyber attacks and loses trade secrets

The attackers were looking for engine information for the A400M military transport aircraft and the A350 regular airliner. The attack on Expleo was revealed back in late 2018. Hackers gained access to the VPN network through which communication was carried out between Expleo and Airbus. The publication notes that the goal of the cyber campaign was industrial espionage.

An Airbus spokesman confirmed the information in part, saying the company was "aware of cyber events" and, like any major manufacturer of industrial technology, was a target for "malicious action."

The company "constantly monitors" such threats through detection systems and can take "immediate and appropriate measures to protect itself at any time," an Airbus spokesman added.

AFP interlocutors indirectly reported that they could be behind hacker attacks. China Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang denied this information.

Recently , many reports of cyber attacks have appeared in the media. In these messages, often in the complete absence of any evidence, interested parties often stick the label of the cyberattack site and pour dirty water on China. These actions are unprofessional and irresponsible, "he said.[8]

2018: Investment in EarthNow

In April 2018, Airbus invested in real-time video surveillance system developer EarthNow across the Earth. Read more here.

2017

Threat of explosions on Airbus A350 liners due to software malfunction

On August 24, 2017, aviation security authorities demanded that the program malfunction threatening the explosion be fixed in Airbus aircraft as soon as possible.

According to Reuters news agency, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) sent warnings to air carriers about the malfunction of Airbus A350-900 airliners.

Airbus A350-900

We are talking about a technical defect in the hydraulic pump, which leads to overheating. When the pump is stopped, the temperature of the hydraulic fluid can rise rapidly. If this is not noticed in time (for example, if a special protection system is turned off), there is a risk of ignition of an explosive mixture, EASA warns.

To avoid overheating the hydraulic system, special software must be installed in on-board computers . Some airlines have already started downloading updates. Among them is Lufthansa. The company said the incident would have no impact on the A350 fleet and their flight schedule.

It is worth noting that the model of the aircraft in which a dangerous malfunction was found is quite new: it entered service only in 2014.

The A350-900, designed to carry up to 314 passengers, has been delivered to airlines such as Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Qatar Airways. By August 24, 2017, more than 100 copies of this aircraft were produced and orders were received for the production of a total of 848 units.

According to Bloomberg, the cost of the A350-900 is $311.2 million, which makes this aircraft one of the three most expensive in the Airbus line.

Airbus said that airlines have been sent notifications about the need for an urgent software update of the A350-900 electronics.^[9]

Selling the Software Development Business for Emergency Call Centers

At the end of July 2017, Airbus announced the sale of the software development business for emergency call centers to Motorola Solutions. With this deal, the aircraft company showed its commitment to focusing on aircraft production.

Plant Holdings, which operates the Airbus DS Communications division specializing in software development for the 911 call center in the United States and alerting citizens to emergencies, is for sale. The value of the transaction was not disclosed. In 2016, Plant Holdings revenue amounted to $100 million.

Airbus sells 911 software development business to Motorola Solutions

Motorola Solutions plans to fulfill all the formalities regarding the acquisition of Plant Holdings by the end of 2017. First, companies need to get approvals from regulators.

The acquisition of Airbus DS Communications adds products and services to our software portfolio, helps us meet the needs of a large number of customers and puts us at the forefront of developing a new generation of technology for 911, comments Bruce Brda, executive vice president of Motorola Products & Solutions. - We are pleased to include these new capabilities in our Enterprise Software Department, established earlier this year to develop and implement integrated software solutions that provide critical intelligence and improve the operational efficiency of public safety agencies.

Plant Holdings is far from the first Airbus business sold, which the company does not consider to be the main one. In 2016, the giant sold most of its electronics manufacturing assets to defense private equity firm KKR & Co. In July 2017, Airbus announced negotiations with Veritas Capital Fund Management to sell the helicopter repair division of Vector Aerospace. In 2014, the giant announced a transformation in the Airbus Defense and Space aerospace group.^[10]

1996

A Concorde aircraft bearing the Pepsi logo during his promotional refueling tour, 1996, Dubai.

1969: Agreement to create the world's first wide-body twin-engine aircraft A300

On May 29, 1969, Minister transport France Jean Shaman and Minister of Economy Germany Karl Schiller signed an agreement at the Le Bourget Air Show to launch a joint program to create the world's first wide-body twin-engine A300 aircraft. The signing of this agreement marked the birth of Airbus.

1954

After the war, Messerschmitt instead of fighters produced such three-wheeled cars, 1954.

Notes