Champion Out As A380 Chief; Replaced By Former A320 Head

It was a day of highs and lows for several individuals at Airbus Monday. As 474 eager employee volunteers took their seats for the first of four passenger-carrying test flights of the Airbus A380... the European planemaker showed the head if the troubled program, Charles Champion, the door.

Airbus officials said Champion -- the second chief operating officer on the A380 program -- was replaced by Mario Heinen, who previously headed up the company's narrowbody A320 program. The Washington Post reports Champion will continue to serve as an advisor.

The move to replace Champion is new Airbus CEO Christian Streiff's first key appointment since he, too, replaced a key figure in the A380's development -- original program head, and later Airbus CEO, Gustav Humbert -- in July.

In his move from overseeing the highly-lucrative A320 program -- Airbus's cash cow -- Heinen will be directly responsible for ensuring the A380 program is not hit with further delays. Alain Flourens will replace Heinen as head of the Airbus single-aisle program, the plane manufacturer said.

As Aero-News reported, heads rolled earlier this year at Airbus -- and parent company EADS -- following news of added delays in A380 deliveries. Wiring installation problems reportedly cost EADS over 2 billion euros in lost profits -- its worst losses since the aerospace consortium was founded in 2000.

In happier news, hundreds of Airbus employees vied for spots on the first of four tests -- known as "Early Long Flights" -- to shakedown the A380 for passenger-carrying operations, in anticipation of the first customer delivery to launch client Singapore Airlines before the end of the year.

An Airbus flight crew piloted the jet -- which departed Toulouse Monday morning for a seven-hour, fully-staffed flight, complete with meal service -- with company personnel handling all cabin duties.

FMI: www.airbus.com