Supply chain and staffing bottlenecks will remain a challenge into 2023, but new ATR chief executive Nathalie Tarnaud Laude remains confident the European turboprop manufacturer will manage to accelerate production and deliver “at least” 40 new aircraft this year. The figure represents a sizeable increase in its performance in 2022 when it shipped 25 new and 11 used aircraft. With just 25 new aircraft deliveries, ATR fell short of the “between mid and high 30” target set by Tarnaud Laude’s predecessor, Stefano Bortoli, in February last year.
The slower-than-expected post-Covid recovery of the supply chain and staffing levels account for the two main reasons for the shortfall. ATR aims to hire 150 people this year. “We face the same challenges as many other OEMs,” Tarnaud Laude told AIN. “We see that some people are coming back to us,” she said, pointing out that suppliers as well as Airbus, ATR's much larger neighbor in Toulouse, want to recruit people with the same competencies. “We are all competing for the same talent. That is not so easy,” remarked Tarnaud Laude, who joined ATR in September last year from Airbus Helicopters, where she led the medium-sized, twin-engine, multi-role military helicopter NH90 program.
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