Ahead of this year’s Paris Air Show, which opens next Monday, Safran Helicopter Engines CEO Cedric Goubet said the company plans to double its 2022 run rate of 500 engines in 2024 and aims to manufacture 700 this year. Goubet characterized the current helicopter market as “very strong” but said problems continue on the supply side.
Goubet’s comments relative to Safran’s supply chain echo those made to AIN earlier this year by Franck Saudo, his predecessor, who recently became CEO of Safran’s electronics and defense division. Saudo characterized supply-chain issues for Safran Helicopter Engines as the “number-one challenge of our company in 2023,” which he attributed mainly to "labor shortages” but also to a tight market for raw materials and finished parts. Goubet noted that the latter situation is improving but that problems remain. He joined Safran in 2010 and previously served as CEO of the company’s nacelles and landing systems divisions.
Safran supports 22,000 helicopter engines that collectively logged four million flight hours in 2022.