Adaptability: Valuable lessons from the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed that one of the most valuable assets of a company – regardless of industry – is its ability to adapt. From teams that have had to adjust to working remotely, to changes in processes and procedures like required social distancing measures, affected nearly every aspect of business across all areas, forcing us to quickly adapt to a new reality in order to survive.

At Airbus, with a continued emphasis on safety as our main priority, we relied on teamwork and the use of new technologies as our main allies in the face of an unprecedented crisis for the aerospace and travel sectors.  

While the video conferencing systems became our new norm, we attached particular attention to maintaining a close “virtual” relationship with our customers and suppliers, making sure we were able to quickly understand and address as best as possible their needs and to navigate through the storm.

We began 2020 with plans to gradually scale-up production of our A320 Family aircraft before we were impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Our production lines in Tianjin, China were the first affected and as the pandemic circled the globe, we noticed that production rates would have to be altered in response to these initial shocks. As an immediate response, we adjusted our aircraft production rates to a new "normal," reducing them by approximately 40% compared to previous plans. 

We strove to protect our supply chain as best we could to preserve this ecosystem for the eventual recovery of the aviation sector. In fact, these new production rates proved resilient over time. By the third quarter, we managed to converge production and deliveries. 

The ripple effect of the global health crisis severely impacted worldwide economies, and with air travel severely reduced, aviation has been among the hardest hit industries. With this in mind, Airbus launched Keep Trust in Air Travel -a company wide initiative- to  ensure  a collective approach, working with stakeholders across the industry to catalyze a safe return to operations while reassuring individuals who take to the skies that their health and safety remain uncompromised.

As the pandemic wore on, we relied on our innovation to maintain continuity and the level of service that characterizes Airbus. One such example is our e-delivery system, implemented in April 2020, which allowed us to combine business continuity with the health of our employees and our customers taking a leading role. The process consists of three stages:  

• Technical Acceptance Completion (TAC) tasks delegated to Airbus (or to a local third party appointed by the airline) 
• Electronic transfer of the title (electronic ToT) 
• Ferry flight and subsequent reception of the aircraft at the customer's base. 

The system also benefits from the "e-sales contracts" platform, which allows all parties involved to meet in a real-time virtual environment where they can optimize and simplify contractual transactions, ranging from paperless drafting to remote ToT. In addition to providing business continuity throughout the crisis, the electronic delivery process – with its collaborative digital aspects – generates workflow efficiencies, flexibility, transparency and a user-friendly environment, which makes this a viable delivery model for Airbus and its customers well into the future.  

We delivered more than 150 aircraft using this innovative solution in 2020 – more than a quarter of our deliveries for the year – allowing us to continue to serve our customers, and overcome the travel constraints many of them faced. 

With worldwide passenger fleets grounded and a shortage of ‘belly-freight’ air cargo capacity, Airbus also worked with its airline customers and EASA to develop and approve a temporary technical solution that enables operators to maximize use of their existing aircraft fleet and generate revenue flows without any compromise on safety. This solution helped address the high demand for delivering vital air cargo services to boost global supply chains, evacuating stranded passengers, and enabling time-critical life-saving emergency and humanitarian response missions. And today we continue to count on aviation to deliver vaccines around the world

As for 2021, challenges and uncertainties remain high in the near-term. We are optimistic but remain humble – we will need to continue to build resilience and adapt to further changes in the way our business operates. If one thing is for certain, it is that we are ready to face future uncertainty with the same predisposition we had during the past year.