Safran is aiming to recover the backlog of CFM International Leap-1A engine deliveries to Airbus by the end of October.

The powerplant manufacturer has been affected not only by supply-chain bottlenecks but also a strike earlier this year.

Airbus has been forced to park engineless aircraft – around 60, most of which are missing Leap powerplants – leaving its delivery schedule backloaded in the first half.

But the airframer believes it can put full-year deliveries back on track, based on CFM’s plan.

Safran chief executive Olivier Andries, speaking during a half-year briefing on 31 July, said the company had “not completely caught up” from the impact of the strike.

“By the end of the [third quarter], we should mostly have recovered,” he says. “The plan is to recover completely by the end of October in order not to impact the Airbus delivery plan.”

Airbus is aiming to deliver 820 commercial aircraft this year. It had managed 306 by 30 June.

“We have a plan for that [recovery], it’s now a matter of execution,” says Andries. “This is a challenging but achievable plan.”

He points out that the company has to make “week to week” decisions on allocating engines either to support the in-service fleet or the aircraft manufacturers.

“It’s very frustrating for an airline to have an asset and not be able to fly it and use it because of an engine issue,” he says, adding that avoiding aircraft on the ground is crucial. “This is what is driving us, mainly.”