Summary
- Airbus wants to implement mandatory weekend overtime on its A220 production line in Canada due to production delays and labor negotiations.
- Workers at the Mirabel facility resisted Airbus’s proposals and pressure tactics before agreeing to a new contract in May.
- Airbus aims to increase A220 production to 14 jets per month by 2026, but faces challenges with labor issues and supply chain problems.
Airbus has told employees working on its A220 production line in Canada that it wants to implement mandatory weekend overtime due to slips in production rates. Workers at Airbus’ plant in Mirabel have deliberately slowed down productivity in recent months before reaching a contract resolution in May.
Airbus wants mandatory weekend overtime on A220 line
As per a Reuters report, the company plans to meet with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) union on Wednesday to discuss the proposal, which would involve workers doing mandatory overtime on weekends to catch up on Airbus A220 production delays.
Photo: Air Canada
This is unlikely to go down well with employees at its Mirabel facility, who were locked in labor negotiations with the company up until early May of this year. With their contract expiring on December 2023, workers rejected two proposals put forward by Airbus and also implemented pressure tactics to slow down production before finally agreeing to a new five-year contract on May 1st.
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Airbus Faces Aircraft Production Delays As Supply And Labor Issues Mount
The company reiterated that it still plans to deliver 800 aircraft in 2024, compared to 735 aircraft a year prior.
Christian Bertrand, president of IAM, commented,
“Before imposing overtime, there are mechanisms to respect within the collective agreement.”
Over at rival planemaker Boeing, union workers remain in contract talks and one of their key stipulations is the removal of mandatory weekend overtime.
14 jets per month by 2026
The planemaker claims it is still on track to meet its target of manufacturing 14 A220s per month by 2026. Airbus has two facilities where it produces the A220 – one in Mirabel, Quebec and the other in Mobile, Alabama – and is aiming for 10 built in Mirabel and the remaining four produced in Mobile.
Photo: ako photography | Shutterstock
However, according to the company’s last publicized A220 production rate from December 2022, it was producing less than half of that at 6 jets per month, and deliveries over 2023 have matched this figure at 68 A220s for the year. Since acquiring majority ownership of the A220 program from Bombardier in 2018, Airbus has been keen to turn it into a profitable program, and a key part of this will be ramping up the monthly production rate.
Labor problems aren’t the only issue impacting the program, as Airbus has also been suffering significant supply chain problems. As a result, it expects delivery delays to dozens of customers in the latter half of this year, putting its annual target of 800 deliveries in doubt.
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Airbus 2024 Deliveries Reach 256 Jets With 8579 In Backlog
Airbus and Boeing are facing different but equally important challenges and need to be mindful of what COMAC is doing in the Chinese market.
As of May, Airbus had delivered 256 jets for the year and had a backlog of over 8,500 planes. The company’s smallest commercial product, the A220, has attracted over 900 orders, of which around 335 have been delivered, leaving a sizable backlog of over 560 planes.
How many times have you flown on an Airbus A220? Let us know what you think of the aircraft in the comments.