Airbus Aims for Consistency: April Deliveries Rise, but Strategic Overhaul Signals Deeper Challenges

Despite best monthly deliveries in 2024, Airbus stock plunges 10% weekly; new strategy chief Eric Kirstetter appointed to address supply chain issues and defense opportunities.

Airbus delivered 67 commercial aircraft in April, its best monthly tally of the year, but the stock remains stuck in a slide that tells a different story. The shares changed hands at €43.00 on Thursday, up just 0.47% on the day, yet the week’s 10.04% plunge and a year-to-date loss of 12.24% reflect growing unease about the planemaker’s ability to turn operational momentum into lasting investor confidence. With the stock trading well below its 200-day moving average of €47.22, the market is sending a clear signal: progress on the factory floor alone is no longer enough.

That message arrived just as Airbus announced a change at a key corporate post. Eric Kirstetter, a long-time Roland Berger consultant whose work spanned automotive, aviation and defence, will join the group as executive vice president for strategy on 18 May, reporting directly to chief executive Guillaume Faury. He replaces Matthieu Louvot, who has been nominated to lead the Airbus Helicopters division. Faury described the moment as “critical,” adding that Kirstetter’s cross-industry experience would help translate geopolitical and technological shifts into strategic opportunities — code for the twin burdens of fixing supply chains and capitalising on Europe’s defence realignment.

The April delivery figures show why that task is urgent. The 67 aircraft handed over included 60 narrowbody jets – 55 from the A320neo family and five A220-300s – plus seven widebodies: four A350s and three A330s. That brought the year’s total to 181 deliveries for 57 customers, lagging behind Boeing’s 190 after four months. More tellingly, the cumulative number is down from 192 in the same period last year, squeezed by Pratt & Whitney engine bottlenecks and administrative delays in China.

Order intake, in contrast, remains robust. Airbus booked 28 gross orders in April, led by 15 commitments for the A350-900, alongside 11 for the A320neo family and two for the A220-300. Since January, gross orders have reached 436, adding to a backlog that already stands at 7,348 aircraft for the A320neo family and 1,169 for the A350 and A330 combined. At the current delivery pace, that order book represents roughly 10.3 years of production — a comforting cushion but also a constant reminder that Airbus must deliver on time.

The company’s medium-term targets underscore the scale of the challenge. For 2026, Airbus is aiming for around 870 deliveries, adjusted EBIT of approximately €7.5 billion and free cash flow before customer financing of roughly €4.5 billion. Hitting those numbers demands a sustained acceleration through the summer months, and April’s performance, while a step forward, has yet to prove that throughput can be stabilised.

On the product side, the cargo variant of the A350 is emerging as a key strategic asset. The first test flight of one of the two freighter test jets is scheduled for the third quarter, with market entry pencilled in for the second half of 2027, assuming certification proceeds on track. As of late March, the A350F had attracted 101 orders from 14 customers, giving Airbus a firmer foothold in the lucrative long-haul freight segment.

At the same time, the company is quietly expanding its cybersecurity footprint across Europe. April brought the acquisition of French specialist Quarkslab, following the earlier purchase of Germany’s Infodas and the planned takeover of Britain’s Ultra Cyber. These moves, while smaller in scale than aircraft programmes, reflect a deliberate push into higher-margin, defence-linked activities — an area where Kirstetter’s background should prove useful.

The boardroom is also turning over. René Obermann is due to step down as chairman on 1 October, with Amparo Moraleda lined up as his successor. That transition, combined with the new strategy chief and ongoing operational pressures, means Airbus is recalibrating on multiple fronts at once. For Kirstetter, the first test will be to distil a credible set of priorities from a pile of competing demands: hitting delivery targets, integrating bolt-on acquisitions and steering the defence business through a period of European rearmament. PowerPoint slides will be the least of his worries.