Airline CEO says supply chain management key to recovery

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Airline CEO says supply chain management key to recovery

MONTREAL, Sept 14 Reuters : Airbus is witnessing mounting pressure on the American aviation supply chain and managing the problem is key to the industry's recovery, the head of the European airliner said on Tuesday.

We really see that the supply chain is in a much more difficult spot than it was before, chief executive Guillaume Faury told the conference of Montreal by video link.

We fear that the supply chain management for the next 12 to 18 months will be the hardest part of what we have to do to recover. Their situation was tough, he said.

If one or two or three are defaulting that s the whole process that is at stake. The supply chain management in front of us is really the key for recovering the world to market. Faury was speaking at an economic conference hosted by the International Economic Forum of Americas with a video link from the United States where domestic travel has been recovering from the pandemic. Global travel remains sluggish, however.

We see already a recovery, but business travel is unlikely to be back in 2019 levels for many years. There are also companies trying to reduce travel to cut emissions, Faury said.

There are a lot of seats which are occupied by people who are not flying for business purposes. They are traveling for leisure or meeting their friends and families. Rival Boeing revised up long-term demand forecasts earlier as a snapback in domestic air travel in the United States tempers the more negative industry predictions seen at the height of coronavirus lockdowns last year.