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CEO says group's operational state better than expected

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Airbus boss warns of deteriorating international climate

(Adds further comments from CEO letter from paragraph 4)

By Tim Hepher

PARIS, Jan 21 (Reuters) - The CEO of Europe's Airbus

has told staff that the group ended 2024 in better

shape than it feared when issuing a profit warning last summer,

while warning of a deteriorating international environment and

newly increased business risks.

Referring to group-wide performance, Guillaume Faury said in

a memo seen by Reuters: "From an operational point of view, we

finished the year in a better state than we feared when we

changed our guidance to the financial markets" in July.

An Airbus spokesperson said it never comments on internal

correspondence.

Airbus this month reported 766 jet deliveries, just shy of a

targeted headline figure of "around 770", while claiming victory

due to a margin for error contained in the language it had used.

It remained ahead of rival Boeing ( BA ) for a sixth year.

Faury said activities would once again accelerate during the

year and Airbus must improve quality and delivery deadlines.

Airbus Defence and Space and Airbus Helicopters had an

"excellent commercial performance," Faury wrote.

But he called for vital progress in defence activities of

both divisions and noted organisational changes in the Defence &

Space unit, which recently simplified its structure.

In the letter, sent to the group's 150,000 staff shortly

before U.S. President Donald Trump took office on Monday, Faury

said Airbus must be ready to respond rapidly to a worsening

international climate without saying what he was referring to.

"At the outset of 2025, we can all see that the

international environment is deteriorating and growing in

complexity. This is increasing the risks weighing on our

activities," Faury said.

Trump, who has promised sweeping tariffs, stopped short of

immediate duties on day one but directed federal agencies to

investigate persistent U.S. trade deficits and unfair trade

practices and alleged currency manipulation by other countries.

Faury told reporters earlier this month that European

aerospace firms were bracing for "very strong" protectionism

during the second term of Trump, who has defended the use of

tariffs as part of his economic agenda to "put America first".