Airbus has taken full advantage of Boeing’s 737 MAX woes and even managed to exceed the company’s October’s revised goal of 860 deliveries for 2019.
Having canceled many holidays and re-allocated elements of its workforce, the European plane manufacturer managed to complete a backlog of aircraft which were waiting to have their cabins adjusted. In total, Airbus delivered 863 aircraft, of which 640 were single-aisle variants. This was an increase of 7.9 percent on its 2018 deliveries. According to Reuters news agency, these figures have to be audited before they can be officially published, while Airbus has yet to comment on its achievement.
Between January and November 2019, Boeing managed to deliver 345 jets, mainly long-haul variants, which will likely see the American aerospace giant deliver less than half the 806 jets it delivered in 2018. However, Airbus did not have a trouble-free year where deliveries were concerned, caused principally by problems with the new A321neo jet layout. With assembly taking place in Hamburg, Germany, dozens of the jets had to be stored in hangars while awaiting last minute configurations as well as the arrival of additionally needed workforce. However, Airbus’ deliveries for 2019 were still an industry record.
