🔷Airbus announced that issues at Spirit AeroSystems’ production facility in the US have negatively impacted deliveries of A350 wide-body aircraft. Production capacity for Section 15—a large composite structural part used in the A350 fuselage and manufactured in Kinston, North Carolina—dropped from approximately 10 aircraft per month pre-pandemic to below 4 post-pandemic.
🔷Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury stated that the company aims to reach a capacity supporting a monthly production rate of 12 A350s by 2028. To achieve this target, production at the Kinston plant needs to increase nearly threefold compared to its lowest level. In December 2025, Airbus integrated two of Spirit AeroSystems’ production units into its structure.
🔷As of the end of September 2026, Airbus holds an order backlog of 887 A350s. While the company received 95 net orders for the A350 family in the first nine months of the year, it delivered 38 aircraft. Meanwhile, production issues and ramp-up efforts at the facilities acquired from Spirit AeroSystems reduced Airbus’s first-nine-month adjusted operating profit by 235 million euros. In May, the company informed its customers about potential additional delays in A350 deliveries.
