Honeywell Aerospace CEO Says Supply-Chain Problems Persist
The leader of Honeywell International Inc.’s aerospace group says the $15 billion operation is still wrestling with problems in its supply chain even as it’s been steadily ramping production.
“The mechanical side is still very fragmented. It’s still very non-robust,” Jim Currier, president and CEO of Honeywell Aerospace Technologies, said March 11 at the JPMorgan 2025 Industrials Conference. “There’s still a lot of lack of resiliency in the mechanical supply base. It’s an ongoing issue. It will be an ongoing issue for some time.”
Currier pointed out that Honeywell Aerospace has for 10 straight quarters increased its output despite the supply-chain snags. The business, which will be spun out as an independent company next year, last year produced organic growth of 11% that was fueled by strong demand for its products from the commercial and defense sectors.
He added that the situation with various parts makers and other suppliers is improving—albeit because Honeywell is pitching in through “investments that we’re making in buying tooling for them and the like.” On top of that, Honeywell is following the playbook of many other manufacturers since the COVID-19 pandemic and broadening the base of companies from which it buys.
“We’re doing a lot of work in terms of dual-sourcing [and] multi-sourcing many of our products to kind of unlock the capacity that exists there,” said Currier, who has led Honeywell Aerospace since the summer of 2023 after being president of Honeywell’s electronic solutions group.
On the topic of supply chains, JPMorgan analyst Steve Tusa asked if tariffs the Trump administration has put in place have the potential to raise component costs and dent Honeywell’s margins. Currier said the measures put in place so far will have a “relatively minor” impact on his team’s numbers and that Honeywell has plans in place to digest them. But he quickly added that things can change.
“There’s nervousness across the board as to what will be the next thing that will fall in terms of a decision that may be made,” he said.
Hiccups in the aerospace sector’s supply chain have been a multi-year concern, outlasting similar issues in other industries that were steadily resolved as the economy emerged from the upheaval of the pandemic. Last summer, Boston Consulting Group analysts called out foundries and forges as having become “a critical choke point for new aircraft production and aftermarket servicing” and recommended, among other things, that original equipment manufacturers and Tier 1 suppliers contract on a longer-term basis and invest in new capacity to help smooth out wrinkles.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office also has waded into the debate, shining light a year ago on one of the key issues facing suppliers: “Fifteen of the 17 manufacturers GAO spoke to said they or their suppliers have had difficulty hiring enough skilled workers to enable them to satisfy the demand for their products.”
Late last year, several of Currier’s peers also commented on the ongoing problems they faced. Northrop Grumman Corp. Chair and CEO Kathy Warden was frank about the breadth of the issue, telling analysts that shortcomings “aren’t concentrated in any one area of the business. They’re broad-based and they tend now to be more supplier-dependent.”
On the bright side for Honeywell Aerospace, Currier said the extra money and time his team is having to spend on its supply chain isn’t getting in the way of research and development work—that’s running at about 4% of sales today and should rise slightly—or possible acquisitions. Currier told the JPMorgan audience he intends to stay “very active” in the M&A pace and that the company’s target pipeline, in aerospace and across Honeywell’s broader footprint, is as full as it’s been in his time with the company.
Shares of Honeywell (Ticker: HON) fell more than 2% to roughly $209 March 11. Over the past six months, they are still up slightly, leaving the company’s market capitalization at about $136 billion.
