A380 Turbulence Won't Help Dreamliner
The announced seven-month delay in deliveries of the new super-jumbo Airbus 380 was supposedly because of wiring problems. There were also allegations of illegal insider share dealing which followed a dramatic drop in the share price of Airbus' principal parent company, European Aeronautic Defense & Space Company. Such news can only have delighted the company's US rivals Boeing. After all, only a few months ago, Boeing was in the doldrums after its chief executive, Harry Stonecipher, was forced to resign because of an affair with a female company vice president. Ironically, he had been appointed to clean Boeing up after a scandal two years earlier.
The notion that the A380 is not going to be a commercial success when it eventually takes to the skies is untenable. The A380 meets the criteria that hub-to-hub carriers such as Emirates or Qatar Airways want for their development strategy. And with aviation fuel prices at record highs with no sign of decreasing, most airlines are going for efficiency — and this is where the Superjumbo scores. Moreover, in the bigger picture of each company's overall performance and taking into account their other aircraft sales, the two are running neck and neck. Last year in fact was a bumper year for both. In France, where the Superjumbo is being assembled, there is strong confidence in it. President Chirac has gone on record to state his belief that Airbus will get over the problems. Where there is concern, however, is over the allegations of financial skullduggery.
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