Mon, Jan 15, 2007
Planemaker To Shuffle Production Between Hamburg And
Toulouse
As part of its
restructuring plan to help it deal with production delays, European
aircraft manufacturing giant Airbus is to build its next-generation
A320 aircraft in Hamburg, Germany, while production for A350 and
A380 will move to Toulouse, France.
Airbus currently has two assembly lines for the A320 at both
Hamburg and Toulouse. Hamburg is to take over all production except
for a future facility planned for a site in China.
According to French paper La Tribune, Airbus CEO Louis Gallois
told the company's trade unions the production shuffling is part of
a larger restructuring plan he called "Power 8," set to be unveiled
next month.
The restructuring plan is the company's answer to major program
delays with its A380 superjumbo program. The jet is now two years
behind schedule for first deliveries -- a delay cutting into Airbus
profits in a big way. The loss of those profits prompted former CEO
Christian Streiff to offer his own take-it-or-leave-it
restructuring plan to the board last October. The board rejected
Streiff's recommendation leading to his resignation, and the
subsequent appointment of Gallois as CEO.
Moving production of the A350 and A380 away from Hamburg is sure
to cause controversy. Airbus is a pan-European company supposedly
benefiting the entire continent, but national rivalries still play
a big role in major company decisions such as this one. Workers at
Hamburg would be especially sensitive to moving A380 production to
Toulouse after former Airbus CEO Noel Forgeard appeared to
partially blame Hamburg workers last summer for delays with the
superjumbo's development.
Additionally, Hamburg's state government is one of several in
negotiation to purchase a 7.5 percent stake in Airbus' parent
company EADS from current shareholder Daimler Chrysler. The
purchase bid by Hamburg is seen by many as an attempt to guarantee
the city's involvement in A380 production.
Viewing it strictly from a management position, industry
observers say the decision would make sense; eliminating the
current duplication of production between the two plants would
generate significant savings for Airbus.
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