PARIS (Reuters) -Airbus has launched a performance improvement plan including cost cuts and a freeze on overall headcount in its planemaking business, after recent cuts in targets for aircraft production, industry sources said, citing a memo to staff.

Code-named "LEAD!", the new initiative will urgently tackle an increase in unit costs, which have been accelerating compared to unit revenues, and address deeper productivity issues as Airbus braces for the eventual recovery of U.S. rival Boeing ( BA ).

Some positions may disappear and the overall number of posts will be capped but the company does not plan a formal redundancy plan, planemaking CEO Christian Scherer said in the letter to staff, according to the industry sources.

Costs will be examined "without taboo" but there will be no change of strategy, he added.

An Airbus spokesperson declined to comment on internal memos but confirmed the existence of a performance improvement plan.

"In view of the continued pressure in the supply chain as well as the overall complex economic situation, there is a need to concentrate our efforts on the fundamentals," the spokesperson said.