Suppliers fret as planemakers ramp up production targets

Paris

A RARE note of dissent permeated the Paris Airshow last week as suppliers worried that they might lose out if they invest to meet higher commercial jet production targets that ultimately prove unsustainable.

Airbus and Boeing plan to raise production rates of best-selling single-aisle planes by 25 per cent to 50-52 a month in 2017-18, and executives at the Paris Airshow discussed the possibility of ramping up output towards 60, or even above.