CEO Guillaume Faury acknowledged Thursday that the company’s
performance last year was “far from expectations” and had to constantly adapt
as airlines grounded planes – or folded altogether -- because of travel
restrictions. Airbus announced in June that it would cut 15,000 jobs, mostly in
France and Germany.
“The crisis is not over. It is likely to continue to be our
reality throughout the year,” he said. Airbus doesn’t expect the industry to
recover to pre-pandemic levels until 2023-2025.
Airbus sales were down to 49.9 billion euros from 70 billion
euros the year before. The company also reported a loss in 2019 because of a
major multinational corruption settlement.
Airbus delivered 566 aircraft last year and expects to
deliver about the same number this year, the company said. It took in 268
commercial plane orders, down from 768 the year before.
Both figures were well down from normal recent years, but
above those from struggling U.S. rival Boeing.
Boeing Co. got a bump in orders and deliveries of new planes
in December, but it wasn’t enough to salvage the year. It notably suffered from
continuing cancellations of its 737 Max jet, which was grounded for 21 months
after crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia killed 346 people. -AP
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