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Airbus Desperate for Engineers

DW staff (jb)June 6, 2006

European airplane manufacturer Airbus has complained that production is too slow because the company can't find enough engineers.

https://p.dw.com/p/8Zs1
Airbus says it needs staff to increase productionImage: AP

In a country with 4.5 million people unemployed, it was an astonishing statement: Airbus announced Tuesday that it can't find enough help for production in Hamburg.

The European aviation giant said it planned to hire 1,250 new employees this year but so far only filled 650 positions because it can't find enough engineers in Germany. And there are unemployed engineers in Germany.

"We are encountering shortages when it comes to engineers," Airbus Germany chief Gerhard Puttfarcken told Die Welt newspaper. "But we are surprised how little flexibility there is in Germany. Some people refuse to move from southern to northern Germany."

He added that the company hoped to hire from the Hamburg area but is now interviewing in England, Italy, Spain and Sweden to make up for Germany's engineer shortage.


Need to increase production

Airbus officials say they need more staff to increase production from 30 planes a month in 2006 to 34 by 2008 because customers have complained about long waits for orders to be filled.

"Customers tell us they don't see why you order a plane and have to wait several years for it," said Puttfarcken. "Because of our full order books, our lead times are too long."

Airbus schafft 1250 neue Stellen in Deutschland
Airbus Germany's chief Gerhard Puttfarcken says German workers are too inflexibleImage: picture-alliance/ dpa/dpaweb

He added that the actual production of a plane took less than a year. The company's smaller planes, the A318, A319, A320, and A321, are built in Germany, while its larger ones are manufactured in France. And the majority of requests the company receives -- 900 out of 1,111 orders last year -- are for planes in this series.

Market potential lost

Airbus and its American competitor Boeing are in the throes of intense competition for domination of the global aviation market. Airbus has had success with its A320, and Boeing is busy filling orders for its new 787 Dreamliner model.

But Puttfarcken said that if Airbus doesn't increase its production abilities and shorten lead times by 40 percent, it will hurt the company's ability to compete.

"We want to alter that or we will lose some of our market potential," he said.

He added Airbus was also seeking suppliers outside Europe, particularly in China, Russia and India: "We're looking all over for partners to help us."