Anabelle Colaco
28 Sep 2026

PARIS, France: Airbus is facing renewed scrutiny over its aircraft deliveries after identifying a coating flaw in hundreds of its best-selling A321neo jets, sending its shares lower on September 25.

The European planemaker said the problem does not affect safety and reaffirmed its target of delivering around 870 aircraft in 2026. It handed over 475 jets between January and August.

The defect involves the anti-corrosion coating on the stringers, the strengthening components inside the forward fuselage, of a batch of A321neo aircraft. Industry sources said the problem resulted from an incorrectly applied coat of primer by an Italian supplier.

Airbus confirmed the issue after it was first reported by The Air Current.

"Our full-year guidance was formally stated during our first-half results on 29 July - this remains our current public position," an Airbus spokesperson said.

A repair has been identified, and airlines continue to accept affected aircraft, in some cases in exchange for concessions related to future maintenance, according to industry sources.

Airbus shares fell around 1.3 percent, underperforming other stocks in France's CAC 40 index.

Some analysts said the issue could complicate the company's efforts to meet its delivery target following earlier production delays.

"While we do not expect this to be material over the long term, this could impact Airbus' ability to hit its 870 delivery target this year," Citi analyst Charles Armitage wrote, adding that the outcome would depend on buyers' responses and the extent of repairs.

Jefferies analyst Chloe Lemarie said the availability of a fix should limit any potential impact on deliveries this year.

Two industry sources identified the supplier involved as TESI, a privately held company based in Cicerale, south of Naples, and a subcontractor to Italy's Leonardo. They said the primer layer applied to the affected components was excessively thin.

TESI did not respond to requests for comment. Leonardo confirmed that TESI was among its suppliers for work on the A321neo but declined to say whether it had carried out the work in this case.

Airbus declined to identify the suppliers involved but confirmed that the problem originated from an external supply source. Leonardo and Airbus Atlantic are the two suppliers of stringers for the A321neo.

The issue comes as Airbus works to achieve record deliveries this year and increase production to 75 aircraft a month from around 60, a target that has been repeatedly delayed.

Last December, problems with fuselage panels from a Spanish supplier led to months of delivery delays and contributed to Airbus missing its original 2025 delivery target. Airbus indicated that the latest problem is less severe.

The A321neo is Airbus's largest single-aisle jet and has been heavily outselling the largest versions of Boeing's competing 737 MAX.