by Tim Hepher

PARIS (Reuters) – Airbus and Boeing prepare the aerospace industry for a sharp increase in the production of the next generation of line aircraft, at the rate of a hundred devices per month each, industrial sources said.

In this perspective, the two aircraft manufacturers explore new production methods such as robotic assembly or the use of lighter plastic materials.

Faced with the weakness of supply chains and potentially long deadlines for the development of engines, the two largest aircraft manufacturers in the world, including their Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 series remain in demand, are years of the launch of projects aimed at replacing these flagship models.

The two manufacturers, however, said this month at a fair on composites in Paris that progress was made in research on materials that could be used for the next generation of models.

“The objective is to recommend the best approach for the transition … (to) the next plane program,” said Randy Wilkerson, representative of Boeing in a NASA research program on high -capacity manufacturing called HICAM, during the JEC World conference in Paris.

Current models, mainly built from aluminum according to methods perfected over the decades, can be replaced by models built from composites, privileged materials for their lightness and their fluid forms.

Already used on the biggest aircraft such as the Boeing 787 and the Airbus A350, the composites save fuel and reduce emissions, but require tedious handling in overseeing ovens.

Thus, to meet the demand for a much larger number of small planes, Airbus and Boeing study more manufacturing from new materials such as thermoplastics at higher speeds.

According to JEC World stakeholders, current studies provide for a future production of 80 aircraft per month for Airbus and Boeing, the double of what Boeing currently produces and an estimate above the current monthly objective of Airbus.

According to declarations of industrial sources in Reuters, the two aircraft manufacturers, however, said the composite industry they targeted up to 100 planes per month each, a major gamble for an industry that began to use composites in the 1970s, but never at such ambitious rates.

Solicited, Boeing and Airbus refused to comment.

According to analysts, production capacity will be as important as the design itself of devices in the aeronautical industry of tomorrow, while the West is faced with the growing competition of China.

(Report Tim hepher; Etienne Breban; edited by Sophie Louet)

Copyright © 2025 Thomson Reuters