PARIS (Reuters) - French aerospace group Safran (PA:SAF) said on Thursday it would focus on meeting a steep ramp-up in jet engine production before deciding whether to stretch its already record commitments further.
Airbus (PA:AIR) and Boeing (N:BA) have agreed plans with engine makers to raise production of their most popular models by some 20 percent to 50-52 planes a month by 2017-2018.
They have also begun exploring the margin for further increases to shorten a long waiting list fuelled by the arrival of efficient new engines such as the LEAP, co-produced by Safran and General Electric (N:GE) joint venture CFM International.
"Concerning LEAP, we think we are at the maximum commitment we can make for the short term," Safran Chief Executive Philippe Petitcolin said. "We are facing a production increase that has never been done in the aerospace industry.
"We want to concentrate on this. We have made a commitment ... and want to keep it. If in 2016 or 2017, we see we are keeping comfortably to this increase, and that we can press a little harder on the accelerator by producing more, then we will naturally be ready to listen to our customers."
Europe's Airbus said last month it was leaning towards a new A320 jet output hike, mentioning figures as high as 63 planes a month, but its executives disagree over how urgently a decision can be made given supply chain pressures.
The LEAP engine series will power all Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, the latest version of Boeing's most popular jet due to enter service in 2017, and about half of the revamped A320neo being developed by Airbus.
The A320neo is due to enter service later this year, initially with a rival engine developed by United Technologies (N:UTX) unit Pratt & Whitney.
Flight tests of Pratt & Whitney's Geared Turbofan were suspended last month due to a problem with one of its components.
This has allowed Airbus to speed up testing of the LEAP engine, which has just started flight trials and completed 19 flights in the past two weeks, Safran officials said.
The head of launch customer Qatar Airways was quoted this week as saying the A320 would be delayed, though not by much.
CFM has, meanwhile, "significantly" boosted its share of the market for engines for the current generation of A320s, Petitcolin said.
He told a news conference 314 CFM56 engines had been ordered since the start of the year, raising their share of Airbus narrowbody planes to almost 90 percent, up from the usual 55-56 percent.