The aerospace industry has been more resilient than expected to the impact of the financial crisis and, as a consequence, the long-anticipated steep downturn in airliner output has not materialized and probably will not materialize. This was the uncharacterically bullish perspective of GKN Aerospace CEO Marcus Bryson, who since 2008 has been warning of a decline in output and income and bracing the aerostructures maker for impact.
Bryson told AIN that the long backlog of airliner orders with which the aerospace sector entered the recession proved to be more durable than he had anticipated. There had been widespread concern that carriers would not be able to secure the financing needed to fulfill the massive orders many of them placed before the financial crisis went global. Professing himself to be delighted at having been proven wrong about the downturn, Bryson, at a May 26 press briefing in London, praised the decisive action taken by airframers Airbus and Boeing, as well as some governments, in quickly presenting alternative sources of finance to sustain the orders. He also said that the industry has proven to be very adept at juggling production and delivery schedules to avoid awkward gaps in output.
