The French aeronautics industry was the second largest in the world behind the US’one in 2019, and was thus a strategic sector for the national economy. It was a large-scale exporter (€64 billion in foreign sales in 2019) and was enjoying a dynamic period in terms of job creation and building revenue. The Covid crisis affected it severely, which prompted a massive and rapid reaction from the Government. At the request of the Senate Finance Committee, the Court of Accounts has investigated the support measures put in place in response to the crisis. Within the framework of this investigation carried out with three Regional and Territorial Chambers of Accounts (in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Pays de la Loire and Occitanie, with the Court itself directly examining the situation in Île-de-France), the national, regional and European aspects of the public policies put in place to protect and revive the sector were audited. While the industry has not yet emerged from the Covid crisis, the Court formulates three recommendations aimed at meeting the requirements of the sector’s structural transformation, i.e. to promote the consolidation of companies in the sector, to support the long-term changes in professional skills, and to accelerate the decarbonisation of aeronautics.
