Company Watch - Airbus.

Oct 16, 2006

Airbus orders by contrast to Boeing remains well off last year's record pace, having booked orders for just 226 aircraft over the first nine months of this year. Comparisons with the year-ago period were not available, but it received net orders for 1,055 aircraft for all of 2005. Sales in September numbered just four A320 family aircraft, all of them to private customers. Oct 13, 2006

Franco-German summit focuses on Airbus crisis. Airbus's management changes and restructuring program are expected to be a prime topic at today's Franco-German summit in Paris, with French President Jacques Chirac, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and their economic advisers discussing what role the respective governments should play in monitoring the aircraft manufacturer's Power8 cost-cutting plan. Oct 12, 2006

Franco-German government board is weighing whether moving forward with development of the A350 XWB remains feasible. "We must assure ourselves that we can do it, both technically and financially," Bischoff said. Oct 12, 2006

France, Germany Pledge To Help Airbus. The leaders of France and Germany pledged support for Airbus on Thursday and promised to share the burden of restructuring after repeated delays to the flagship A380 project. Oct 12, 2006

European Political Pressure Grows Over Airbus Jobs. Airbus faced mounting European political pressure over threatened job cuts alongside a diplomatic rift over Russian share buying as the planemaker struggled to focus on a recovery plan for its A380 superjumbo. Oct 11, 2006

Government Influence Comes Back To Haunt Airbus. The European governments that created Airbus and funded ambitious airliner programs that allowed it to rise past US rival Boeing, are now hindering the firm's efforts to get over the worst crisis in its history. Oct 10, 2006

New Airbus Chief Warns Of 'Painful' Job Cuts. The new head of Airbus said on Tuesday the group's "baroque" structure needed to be simplified and decisions would be made in the next few months which could lead to "painful" job losses. Oct 10, 2006

EADS Co-CEO Says No Need For German Stake - Report. The German co-head of European aerospace firm EADS has spoken out against the German government taking a stake in the company and downplayed the panic that has followed warnings of job losses. Oct 15, 2006

German Government Considers EADS Stake. The German government said on Friday it would consider offers from regional states to play a role in helping EADS, parent firm of troubled planemaker Airbus, recover from a crisis caused by superjumbo delays. Oct 13, 2006

Franco-German governments have signaled that job cuts and facility closures will be scrutinized carefully. France owns a 15% stake in Airbus parent EADS, while German company DaimlerChrysler controls 22.5%. Oct 12, 2006

Germany's Bild Zeitung reported yesterday that Airbus and EADS plans to sell five German plants employing more than 6,500 workers, but the manufacturer insisted no decisions have been made regarding its restructuring. Its biggest German facility is in Hamburg, where more than 10,000 employees are based. EADS co-CEO Louis Gallois, the new Airbus CEO, has admitted that delays to the A380 program can be traced to production problems in Hamburg. German officials have warned that cuts must be distributed equally between France and Germany. Oct 12, 2006

Further complicating the Airbus/EADS equation are reports that Spain and Russia, each of which owns about 5% of EADS, are considering increasing their holdings. Spanish officials reportedly are concerned about 3,000 Airbus jobs based at three factories there and believe a larger stake in EADS could protect those jobs. Russian President Vladimir Putin said this week while visiting Germany that he favors a greater role for his country in both EADS and Airbus. Oct 12, 2006

EADS co-Chairmen Manfred Bischoff and Arnaud Lagardere told France's Les Echos that they favor the Power8 plan but weren't willing to give former Airbus CEO Christian Streiff the autonomy he wanted to implement the program. They noted that the EADS board believes the current Airbus crisis is a result of too little oversight. Oct 12, 2006

EADS To Dominate French-German Summit. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Jacques Chirac are expected at a summit on Thursday to try and soothe tensions triggered by fresh management turmoil and production delays at EADS's Airbus unit. Oct 12, 2006

Spain Could Raise EADS Stake To Protect Jobs. EADS minority partner Spain said it wants to raise its stake in the company to safeguard jobs as the firm prepares to push through a "painful" restructuring at its planemaking unit Airbus. Oct 11, 2006

Putin Favors Boosting Russian EADS Stake. President Vladimir Putin told a German newspaper that he was in favor of Russia boosting its stake in Airbus parent EADS but said it would not do so at any cost, adding that the firm had structural deficiencies. Oct 10, 2006

Emirates says it remains committed to A380. Emirates President Tim Clark denied rumors that the airline may cancel some of its A380 orders. Emirates now gets it first A380 in August 2008, when it should have been receiving its 18th. Clark said the airline is looking at additional capacity options focused around the 777-300ER. It is delighted with that aircraft, which is 3% better than guarantee on its specific fuel consumption and has shown no signs of performance degradation after six months, which is "outstanding," he said. Oct 13, 2006

India's Kingfisher Airlines reportedly was told that its five A380s will not be delivered until 2011 and Airbus has agreed to pay the carrier $22 million in compensation in either cash or discounts. Kingfisher also has five A330s and five A350s on firm order. Other airlines also are expected to seek compensation from Airbus. Oct 9, 2006

Lufthansa Confirms 35 Plane Airbus Order. Lufthansa has signed a contract for 35 new aircraft from Airbus, confirming a September announcement, the pan-European plane maker said on Friday. Oct 13, 2006

Boeing Looks To Benefit From Airbus Crisis. Boeing stands to widen its lead in wide-body orders as rival Airbus grapples with persistent production delays and a leadership crisis, analysts said on Monday. Oct 9, 2006

Emirates President Tim Clark has confirmed that discussions with Boeing are ongoing regarding specifications for the 747-8I. The carrier was thought to be interested in the type as a replacement for the order for 18 A340-600IGWs cancelled earlier this year, although Airbus still shows it on its order book. Oct 9, 2006

NavAero said its tBagC22 received an STC as a Class 2 Electronic Flight Bag on A320 family aircraft. The EFB will be deployed first by Virgin America. NavAero also received an STC for its Class 2 EFB for MD-10/-11 series aircraft. Although it did not disclose the name of the launch customer, it is believed to be FedEx. Oct 13, 2006

Editor: Aram Gesar, eMail: [e-mail]

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Oct 9, 2006