Airbus SE reported a cash outflow in the first half as supply-chain challenges with engines for its best-selling A320neo jet delayed deliveries of new aircraft. Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury speaks with Romaine Bostick on "The Close."

Airbus reported delivering 306 aircraft in the first half of the year, with an additional 60 completed planes awaiting engines. The company's CEO attributed recent negative cash flow primarily to these delayed engine deliveries, which he expects to be resolved as suppliers recover from earlier industrial challenges and strikes.

Despite some restructuring of orders and lower demand from certain US customers, Airbus continues to experience robust global demand, maintaining the largest backlog in the industry. The CEO emphasized that most customers are requesting accelerated deliveries, and Airbus is ramping up production, particularly of the A320 family, aiming for a record monthly output by 2027. The company also welcomed a recent US-EU agreement to return to zero tariffs on civil aviation, which is expected to support normal operations once implemented.

Airbus mostly on track with 1H expectations, CEO says

still some concerns here about the number of deliveries in the most recent half. But more importantly the cash burn that we saw in that period as well. What assurances can you give investors about some moderation in that cash burn and some acceleration with regards to deliveries. What we see in the first half of the year is a number of delivery that is at 306. But we have also to have in mind that we have 60 aircraft sitting on the ground fully finished. But with engines missing we call them gliders. So if you look at what we've been able to produce including the gliders actually we are mostly on track with what we expected to do in the first half. So we count on engine makers namely CFM and to a smaller extent parts to recover on their engine deliveries to Airbus. So we can be back on track with a number of deliveries. So actually the negative free cash flow that we have recorded for the first half reflects mainly those missing deliveries and engine missing leading to aircraft on the ground. Although we have confirmed our guidance because we believe we will get those engines and we'll be back to where we need to be. Are the delays in getting those engines. Is that related to labor issues or is that more for parts and just some hold ups in the supply chain. Well that's more of the latter. Actually these are more short term issues that were generated in the first half of the year. When we look at the CFM situation G.E. faced industrial difficulties in the beginning of the year. They delivered their cause the hot section of the engines late to the other partner which is Saffron. And then Saffron faced a strike a seven week strike that impacted very significantly the ability to deliver on time. We are recovering now. So it's really a timing issue facing industrial challenges. And we believe they are in the situation now to deliver us back to normality till the end of this year. So that's the outlook for the next part of the year. With regards to the backlog of orders I am curious as to what adjustments if any you have had to make in light of some of the lower demand coming out of the US. The restructuring of the order book over at Waze as well as a few other customers that at least for right now might be on the sidelines. Actually what we face at Airbus is a very high level of demand overall. We have by far more demand than the ability to supply. We have a very strong backlog the biggest backlog in the industry. And these backlog keeps going up keeps growing. So we are not looking at it as a as a risk for our business moving forward. The overall global demand keeps growing and we are doing our very best to ramp up to serve that demand. How linear is that. And more importantly Guillaume there's a big question here about whether some of your customers are actually asking for an acceleration in delivery of their order book. Well actually most of them if not all of them are asking for an acceleration in the delivery. As I said earlier we are held back by the ability of engines. We are humping up on the A320 family which is the bulk of what we do up to a production rate a monthly production rate of 75 aircraft a month by 2027. That will be the highest ever achieved for a commercial aircraft. So that's the challenge we have in front of us. It's a good challenge because it reflects the strong demand we have for our products. You gave guidance and for investors here that explicitly did not take into account the framework of a deal between the United States and the European Union. When do you think you'll have a little bit more confidence of factoring in that trade deal into your guidance. That's an important question to us. We had the news over the weekend of the agreement and the fact that civil aviation will be back to the so-called 0 4 0 meaning no tariffs. That's something we have enjoyed since 1979 and drives the success of this industry. We need something papered out and implemented. We need an agreement in force as soon as possible to be able to be back to normal operations. That's something important to us. But we welcome the agreement. We hope it's going to be in force as soon as possible and ideally more a matter of weeks and a matter of months.

The announcement comes as international pressure mounts on Israel over the war in Gaza and the deepening humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave.

Ljubljana

Middle East Conflict

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New York

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Ukraine’s Parliament has reversed a controversial law signed last week by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which would have allowed the government greater control over anti-corruption agencies. The decision comes as the country faces one of its most significant political crises since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

Kyiv

Ukraine Invasion

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U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order increasing tariffs on Canadian goods that don't meet the terms of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement to 35 per cent.

Ottawa

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Jerusalem

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Washington

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Rio de Janeiro

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Okinawa

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Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Canada will recognize a Palestinian state later this year if the Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the West Bank, meets certain conditions.

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Australia said on Wednesday (July 30) it will add YouTube to sites covered by its world-first ban on social media for teenagers, reversing an earlier decision to exempt the Alphabet-owned video-sharing site and potentially setting up a legal challenge.

Canberra

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President Donald Trump said on Wednesday (July 30) the United States will impose a 25% tariff on goods imported from India, as well as an unspecified penalty for buying Russian weapons and oil, on Aug. 1.

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Mourners flooded the streets of Birmingham to celebrate the life of rock-and-roll legend Ozzy Osbourne during his funeral procession in the United Kingdom. Mark Savage, a music reporter at the BBC, a CBS News partner, joins with more details.

Birmingham

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U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters before departing from Scotland that Jeffrey Epstein poached workers from his Mar-a-Lago spa. Trump mentioned Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein's most vocal accusers, in his latest remarks.

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Owdeh Hathaleen, a 31-year‑old Palestinian activist, teacher, and filmmaker behind the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, was shot dead by an Israeli settler near the village of Umm al‑Khair in the South Hebron Hills.

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A powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia's Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula triggered tsunami waves of up to 16 feet nearby, and sparked evacuation orders in Japan, Hawaii and across the Pacific on Wednesday (July 30).

Hawaii

Tsunami reaches Hawaii after huge quake shakes Russia's Far East

The U.N. General Assembly brought high-level officials together to promote a two-state solution to the decades-old Israel-Palestinian conflict. Israel and the United States are boycotting the two-day meeting, co-chaired by the foreign ministers of France and Saudi Arabia

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With numerous countries facing an Aug. 1 trade agreement deadline, officials in the Trump administration say China could get an extension while negotiations continue.

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Police say the man who shot and killed four people in a New York City office building before he took his own life had a "documented mental health history." Mayor Eric Adams says he may have been targeting the National Football League (NFL).

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Jeffrey Epstein-associate Ghislaine Maxwell is offering to testify before Congress in exchange for concessions like full immunity. CBS News Department of Justice reporter Jake Rosen has more.

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Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Tuesday (July 29) Britain was prepared to recognize a Palestinian state in September at the United Nations General Assembly unless Israel takes a number of steps to improve life for Palestinians.

London

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Russia launched overnight air strikes on over 70 Ukrainian cities, killing more than 20 people, according to President Zelenskyy. A pregnant woman died near a hospital in the southeast, while a prison strike killed at least 17.

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For the first time, human rights groups inside Israel are accusing their own government of committing genocide in Gaza. Israel insists it is targeting Hamas, not civilians—despite nearly 60,000 Palestinian deaths since the war began almost two years ago.

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Bogotá

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Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev posted on social media that President Trump's deadline push for a ceasefire with Ukraine is "a threat and a step towards war."

Moscow

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Ukraine says Russia's overnight air strikes hit a prison in Zaporizhzhia in the southeast, killing at least 17 people. Another 35 were injured. Authorities say the attacks destroyed the jail buildings and damaged several nearby houses.

Zaporizhzhia

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The suspect in the Michigan Walmart stabbing attack that injured 11 people over the weekend pleaded not guilty Monday to terrorism and assault charges.

Breakdown