Airbus confirms further A380 delay and launches company restructuring plan
04 Oct 2006
Airbus has announced a further delay in the delivery schedule of the A380. The first A380 will now be delivered in October 2007. Thirteen more will be delivered in 2008 and 25 in 2009. The industrial ramp-up will be completed in 2010, when 45 A380s are to be delivered. Airbus is in close contact with its customers and is doing its utmost to find ways and means to alleviate the burden this represents for them.
In
June, the amount of work to be done to finalise the installation
of the electrical harnesses into the forward and rear
section of the fuselage had been underestimated. Beyond
the complexity of the cable installation, the root cause
of the problem was that the 3D digital mock up, which
facilitates the design of the electrical harness installation,
was implemented late and that the people working on it
were still in the learning curve.
New Airbus President and CEO Christian Streiff has announced
management changes, implementation of proven tools on
all sites, as well as creation of multinational teams
to make better use of the best skills available. In order
to regain its competitive edge and to counter the financial
impact of the delay as well as the weakening dollar, Airbus
has announced the Power8 programme to reduce costs, save
cash and develop new products faster. Development cycle
times are to be reduced by two years while overall productivity
is to be increased by 20 per cent. The programme aims
at annual cost savings of at least €2 billion from
2010 onwards, delivering €5.0 billion in cumulative
cash savings by 2010.
This year, Airbus will deliver around 430 aircraft, the
highest ever,
with a plan to deliver even more next year. Its order
book has 2,100 aircraft, filling the production lines
for over the next four years. Airbus is an EADS joint
company with BAE Systems.