After an expected 563 deliveries between January and November, insiders are reviewing the Airbus 2022 objective.

According to industry insiders, Airbus delivered an estimated 66 planes in November, leaving it with an almost record-high challenge of 137 planes in December to fulfil its 2022 objective. However, the company has not ruled out the idea of lowering the price.

The largest aircraft manufacturer in the world has reportedly delivered about 563 aircraft this year, up from 497 between January and the end of October, or 495 after accounting for two deliveries that were halted by Russian sanctions.

A representative for Airbus declined to comment on the November estimate, which is up for internal review.

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With weeks left before the year’s conclusion, a late surge raised November beyond original expectations but did nothing to allay concerns about the 2022 objective of “about 700,” according to the sources. Before COVID-19 severely strained supply networks, December records of 138 were set in 2018 and 2019.

According to a source in the business, the corporation has all but given up on achieving its important revenue-driving aim. The insider, who wished to remain anonymous, stated, “They have too many issues.”

On Dec. 8, Airbus will disclose the deliveries for November, which is also viewed as an opportunity to provide any updates on end-of-year objectives. Two sources stated that this had not been ruled out while pointing out that Airbus frequently surprises with strong results at year’s end. The performance in the last days of November appears to play a factor in any decisions made by Chief Executive Guillaume Faury on Tuesday. When asked if Airbus was still committed to its 2022 goal, he declined to directly respond but said he would have a better understanding by the end of November and cautioned that the supply chain climate “remains quite difficult.”

Christmas Sprint

According to a report by Jefferies analyst Chloe Lemarie, surveillance of test and delivery flights indicated there may have been 65 deliveries in November.

According to monitoring data, up to 11 airplanes may have left manufacturers on December 1st, according to one industry source. Official delivery and departure planes don’t always line up perfectly. Even still, extraordinary volatility has already forced some purchasers to delay end-of-year deliveries to 2023, according to two additional sources.

Additionally, Airbus is postponing some of the deliveries planned for 2019.

Airbus was obliged to reduce its goal for delivery from 720 in July to 700 as a result of missing components. Sporadic shortages or bottlenecks are still a concern.

When asked to summarise existing supply chain risks earlier this week, Chief Operating Officer Alberto Gutierrez told reporters, “I am not concerned about the things I know but about the things that may crop up.”

Reuters stated on Monday that early external November data and business sources indicated that it would be more difficult to meet the amended objective. On Tuesday, Faury stated that he did not anticipate supply chains to loosen up during the next six months.

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But according to Chief Commercial Officer Christian Scherer, Airbus is still experiencing a robust rebound in demand, with wide-body models starting to catch up to demand for smaller aircraft after a wait of around 18 months.