The A380: Grounded Hamburgers
Published 9:00 pm Monday, July 31, 2006
Current problems with the A380 have their roots in some layoffs at Hamburg more than a decade ago, German magazine Der Spiegel reports. http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,428905,00.html
The magazine says the 1995 layoffs and the complicated management structure created with the birth of the EADS have led to a mess as tangled as the wiring in the A380’s tail, which is causing the delivery delays.
The layoffs were the first problem, the magazine said, because they scared away a generation of top talent.
Key Quote: “In France, aerospace jobs are amongst the most hotly sought after by university students. But young Germans starting their careers would rather work for a company like Siemens or BMW. This has forced Airbus Hamburg to roll out an expensive training program to recruit qualified workers.”
The dual-nation management scheme compounds the problems, Der Spiegel continued.
Key Quote: “The company’s Byzantine Franco-German management structure has also made it impossible for Airbus to respond quickly to problems. Even today, many inside the company are unable to determine the line of command and who is actually responsible for what.”
The problems aren’t isolated to Hamburg, the magazine claims. Problems with the Spanish-built tail have led to delays and additional reinforcement (ie., weight), and it now appears likely the A380 will not meet the performance targets Airbus promised, Der Spiegel said.
Key Quote: “German national carrier Lufthansa, a major Airbus customer, is already estimating internally that the A380 will consume 14 percent more fuel than Airbus has officially disclosed.”
