Airbus Woes While Boeing Rebounds Show Script Can Quickly Flip

As Boeing Co. lurched from one crisis to the next last year, its European rival quietly went about churning out aircraft, with Airbus SE Chief Executive Officer Guillaume Faury routinely reminding his staff to remain humble.

Faury was well aware how quickly the tables can turn in an industry that only knows two main players. And the past week brought an unwelcome reminder that Airbus, too, isn’t immune to the production woes bedeviling aircraft manufacturing, with supply and worker shortages being acute issues years after the pandemic ended.

Early Wednesday, Airbus was forced to revise its aircraft delivery target for ...