Airbus confirmed Thursday that it has decided to raise its A320 production rate to 63 per month by next year’s second quarter, despite reservations from key suppliers such as Pratt & Whitney parent company United Technologies and CFM partner Safran. Now producing 55 A320-family jets per month, Airbus held talks with several suppliers earlier this year over its desire to raise the rate beyond the previous goal of 60, but not without objections from Safran CEO Philip Petitcolon, who told analysts at the company’s recent first quarter earnings call that his company cannot commit to such an increase while deliveries of CFM Leap turbofans continue to run about six weeks late. Safran maintains an equal partnership with GE Aviation in the CFM joint venture that builds one of the engine choices for the A320neo, the Leap-1A, and the CFM56 for the legacy A320ceo.
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