Airbus chief says hopes Boeing and FAA can resolve 737 MAX crisis soon

AMSTERDAM: Airbus outgoing chief executive Tom Enders expressed hopes Boeing and U.S. Federal Aviation Administration would soon resolve a crisis over the grounding of the 737 MAX and said the two planemakers stand together on safety.

"Accidents like the one in Ethiopia create doubts for safety, not just concerning one manufacturer of aircraft but all manufacturers, for the public," Enders told shareholders on Wednesday.

"We never compete on safety. We learn from it but don't compete," he told an annual shareholder meeting.

His designated successor, planemaking chief Guillaume Faury, said in answer to a shareholder's question that the 737 MAX had a different architecture to the Airbus A320neo but added: "we continue to look very seriously at our own safety practices."

He also said: "We are taking all the lessons we can, whether from Airbus or non-Airbus planes, and we have to do this to keep improving all the safety records."

Faury was elected to the board with 99.99 percent of the votes at the AGM, He was due to be formally named CEO shortly afterwards.