The AeroForum #LTAF2021 took place at Aeroscopia on Nov. 18, 2021
The second edition of this new event (that replaces the former Trophées de l’aéronautique, Aeronautics Trophies) has been sponsored by TBS (as for the 7 previous events). A great opportunity offered to TBS students from the MSc Aerospace Management such as Nathan Houssais and Kevin Snege who joined this event to get latest news from aerospace leaders, inspiring recommendations and networking possibilities.
Owing to the spectacular ramp-up announced by Airbus, subcontractors face a triple challenge: finding financing, recruiting high-skilled talents and continuing to innovate and improve the quality of production. These issues have been at the heart of the Aeroforum event organised by La Tribune on 18 November in Aeroscopia (Blagnac/Toulouse, France).
Other organizations sponsored this event: ACE Capital Partners, CGI, CIC Sud Ouest, Dassault Systems, Expleo, IRDI Capital Investissement, Liebherr Aerospace, Spherea, Stelia Aerospace, Toulouse Métropole
The aeronautics industry regains optimism after a major economic downturn.
(Source La Tribune) 20 months after the beginning of the health crisis, “the fears of cascading bankruptcies” have receded, recalled Etienne Guyot, prefect of the region, welcoming the State’s shielding action. “In the Occitanie region, 424 establishments in the sector have mobilized partial activity, which has thus protected 53,000 employees. 336 companies have mobilized the “PGE”, which represents 1.7 billion euros. We can imagine the power of these tools, which had never been deployed in this way before,” he stressed. For his part, Thierry Quillet, deputy delegate general of Gifas, noted that “the impact of the crisis has led to a 4% drop in jobs in the sector in 2020 and a further 3% drop is estimated for 2021. Cumulatively, this amounts to nearly 8%, which is well below the drop in activity in terms of turnover suffered by companies, which has reached an average of 38%”.
20 months after the beginning of the health crisis, “the fears of cascading bankruptcies” have receded, recalled Etienne Guyot, prefect of the region, welcoming the State’s shielding action. “In the Occitanie region, 424 establishments in the sector have mobilized partial activity, which has thus protected 53,000 employees. 336 companies have mobilized the “PGE”, which represents 1.7 billion euros. We can imagine the power of these tools, which had never been deployed in this way before,” he stressed. For his part, Thierry Quillet, deputy delegate general of Gifas, noted that “the impact of the crisis has led to a 4% drop in jobs in the sector in 2020 and a further 3% drop is estimated for 2021. Cumulatively, this amounts to nearly 8%, which is well below the drop in activity in terms of turnover suffered by companies, which has reached an average of 38%”.
Very optimistic, Airbus announced in May spectacular increases in production rates. Production of the A320 NEO had fallen from 60 to 40 aircraft per month during the crisis, but the European aircraft manufacturer wants to increase production to 45 aircraft per month by the fourth quarter of 2021 and intends to reach 65 aircraft per month by mid-2023. And studies are already underway to move towards 70 to 75 aircraft per month.
Two fast-growing and very promising aerospace companies have presented their plans, projects and perspectives : AURA AERO with the CEO Jérémy Caussade and ASCENDANCE FLIGHT TECHNOLOGIES with the CEO Jean-Christophe Lambert. Both organizations kindly took part to the MSc Aerospace Management program this year for the sake of the students!
TBS Education Dean, Dr. Stéphanie Lavigne shared in her inaugural speech:
“Together, training institutes and companies, we can innovate to support the revival of the aeronautics industry. Together, training institutes and companies, we will be able to make young people want to get involved in the aeronautics industry again.
Firmly anchored in its Toulouse aerospace territory, TBS Education has a dedicated and qualified faculty and an aerospace centre of excellence, headed by Professor Sylvain Bourjade. This centre brings together transversal skills in the aerospace field to meet the needs of today’s companies (training, recruitment, research)“.
Dr Sylvain Bourjade, who took over during summer 2021 the management of the centre of excellence in aerospace (led by Dr Christophe Bénaroya since the end of 2019), spoke during a round table about the diversity of the training courses offered at TBS, from finance to supply chain, including programs totally dedicated to aerospace such as the MSc Aerospace Management or the Bachelor’s degree in Aviation, and the modules dedicated to this sector in the frame of the Global Executive MBA.
On a side note, it can be mentioned here that a “happening” took place with the interruption of Aeroforum by allegedly pro-environmental activists who simply and purely rejected any idea of decarbonization the industry, even wishing for the pure and simple disappearance of all aeronautical activity. It is a pity, and in fact absurd, to reject the sincerity of aviation experts & stakeholders, the real progress made by the sector, and new commitments towards a decarbonized industry. This type of action, certainly sincere in origin, is becoming inept as soon as it gives way to a discourse without nuance or discernment and driven by dogmas and a despairing regression.
