Airbus is ready to do its part to help Spirit AeroSystems, a major A220 supplier that blames part of its financial woes on the old C Series, but the American giant will also have to find ways to turn things around , warns the European multinational.

The American aeronautical parts giant has repeatedly said that it wishes to renegotiate the terms of its agreement with the aircraft manufacturer regarding the A220, one of the programs at the origin of its concerns. Last month, Spirit was able to reach an agreement with Boeing, its other major customer, to obtain financial flexibility.

“We have to take it into account,” says the president and CEO of Airbus Canada, Benoît Schultz, in an interview with La Presse on Thursday, on the sidelines of a speech to the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal (CCMM). . “It is an important partner of the aircraft. »

In front of an audience of business people, Mr. Schultz notably came to confirm an expansion of Airbus in Mirabel – part of which had been reported by La Presse last July – in addition to revealing a study commissioned from PwC to demonstrate the impact economics of the program developed by Bombardier and controlled by the European aircraft manufacturer since 2018.

Spirit plays an important role in the A220 supply chain – in which the Quebec state has a 25% stake after injecting no less than 1.7 billion since 2015. The company builds part of the fuselage , the wings of the aircraft as well as the pylons of the aircraft, the component which connects the engine to the wing or fuselage.

Airbus can make an effort, says Mr. Schultz, before adding that it will not be able to do everything alone.

“Spirit is a global player; I expect a global player to be capable of implementing improvement plans, affirms the manager of Airbus Canada. We help him, we are present on site, but it is his responsibility to implement the improvements. It is a partner who manages the risk on the program. »

The A220 is expected to be profitable once 14 planes per month are rolling out of factories in Mirabel and Mobile, Alabama. Airbus has often said that this target will be reached around the “mid-decade”. The company mentions 2026 more categorically.

This acceleration in pace finally seems to be observed. By the end of October, fifty examples of the A220 had been delivered to customers, a number up 28% from last year.

“Look at the Airbus sites around the world that have flight test centers,” says Schultz. There aren’t a lot of them. The Airbus flight test center in Europe is in Toulouse. It’s the only one. »

Regarding the delivery center, La Presse revealed the details last July. The cost for the structure is estimated at approximately $44 million and the project manager is Magil Construction. The sum of 44 million does not include everything relating to the equipment of this new complex.

For aircraft manufacturers, a delivery center is where an airline officially takes ownership of an aircraft. This process comes to fruition after several days of inspections and flights. For example, we inspect the interior of the cabin and the paint to identify any defects and carry out any touch-ups.

In Mirabel, this step is carried out inside the current hangars, where space must be freed up to assemble more devices.