Airbus Chief Financial Officer Thomas Toepfer stressed the importance of a stable relationship with supplier Spirit AeroSystems in an interview published Thursday as rival Boeing considers buying the company.

“It is important that we have a stable relationship with this supplier,” Toepfer told Swiss newspaper Boersen-Zeitung.

“Boeing's timeline is difficult to predict,” he added, when asked when he expected to get clarity on the deal. (Reporting by Andrey Sychev, Editing by Rachel More)