On the delivery ramp at Toulouse, an A321neo sits fully painted, cabin fitted, livery gleaming. No engines. It isn't going anywhere for another six weeks.
This is the defining image of Airbus's production problem — and it has almost nothing to do with building aircraft.
Airbus delivered 735 aircraft in 2023 and targeted 800 for 2024. It missed. Early 2025 is tracking behind 2023's pace. The gap isn't explained by assembly failures or engineering delays. It's explained by queuing mathematics — specifically, what happens when one missing component category freezes an otherwise complete airframe.
Industry analysts call it the glider problem. An airframe complete in every respect except engines or interior fittings is technically a glider: capital-intensive, occupying ramp space, generating zero revenue. A single aircraft in this state ties up working capital for 30 to 90 days. Multiply that across dozens of positions and the delivery schedule stops being a production problem. It becomes a logistics problem with compounding downstream effects.
CFM International's LEAP engine programme is the most visible constraint. Casting and thermal-coating supply limitations — deep in the tier-3 supplier chain — have restricted LEAP output for both the A320neo and A321neo. These aren't components Airbus makes. They're made by specialists whose capacity can't be surged overnight.
The cost lands hardest on airlines. A 60-day slip on a single narrowbody delivery represents roughly $3–5 million in deferred fuel savings versus the aircraft it was meant to replace — plus wet-lease costs if the carrier has already sold seats against the new capacity. Network planners build schedules around firm delivery windows. When those windows slide, the disruption cascades.
The aircraft exists. The engineering is done. What's missing is a turbine coating from a foundry running at its physical limit — and that gap is measured not in engineering hours, but in months.