French aircraft giant Airbus has delivered 142 planes to customers these years, nearly twice as many as its American rival Boeing, which is struggling with production amid heightened scrutiny after a door plug fell off one of its planes mid-flight in January. And at an investor meeting Wednesday, Airbus confirmed that it will keep up that dominance for the rest of the year.
“As the basis for its 2024 guidance, the Company assumes no additional disruptions to the world economy, air traffic, the supply chain, the Company’s internal operations, and its ability to deliver products and services,” Airbus wrote in a slideshow outlining its expectations for the year. It’s a bit of boilerplate that reads with a barbed irony given the issues at Boeing.
Right now, Airbus says it will be able to deliver 800 commercial jetliners through the end of the year. At its current delivery rate, Boeing won’t be able to break 350 by December. Though Airbus has expressed fearful sympathy for its American colleagues — “The way I would look at it is … it’s a factor that makes us even think more, how can we make sure that these things will never happen at Airbus?” CFO Thomas Toepfer told CNBC last month — that doesn’t change the fact that it’s sopping up market share at their expense.
The company’s investors also approved a one-time €1-per-share ($1.07) dividend. Reuters reports that shareholders had been pressuring Airbus to share some of the spoils it has gained from helping airlines around the world rebuild their fleets in the wake of the travel-halting covid-19 pandemic.
Airbus stock was flat in Wednesday trading. The company’s shares are up 17% so far this year. Boeing shares, on the other hand, are down more than 30% in the same span.
