HAMBURG, Germany – The new chief executive of Airbus said Thursday that “tough decisions” would have to be made to get the European aircraft maker back on track, but he insisted that any job cuts would be balanced between participating nations.
Airbus Chief Executive Louis Gallois’ comments to reporters came after he toured the aircraft maker’s plant in Hamburg – its largest after Toulouse, France – and as German and French leaders met in Paris for a summit.
There, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the German government had not yet decided whether to take a stake in Airbus parent EADS.
“We have not made any decision, but I have not ruled anything out,” she said, adding that her priority was to ensure that the Franco-German defense group had “reliable investors.”
DaimlerChrysler AG owns 22.5 percent of EADS, while Paris-based Lagardere SCA owns 7.5 percent and the French government a 15 percent stake in the group.
Germany has indicated it may acquire a 7.5 percent stake from DaimlerChrysler, which wants to pare its holding to 15 percent. Spain is seeking to increase its current 5.5 percent stake, and Russia’s Vneshtorgbank also declared last month that it had acquired 5 percent of EADS on the markets.
In Hamburg, Gallois sought to reassure Airbus employees and local officials worried that their jobs were in danger, stressing that no decision on any job cuts had yet been made.
“This doesn’t mean we will not have to make tough decisions,” Gallois told reporters, adding the company would seek to maintain fairness between the four nations where it has production facilities, with France and Germany being the largest.
“We know that if we ask for cuts, we have to ask for balanced efforts between the different countries,” Gallois said.
Gallois has warned of “painful” job losses as he presses ahead with a program of cost cuts designed to save 2 billion euros ($2.5 billion) annually by 2010. He took over on Monday from Christian Streiff, who resigned as Airbus CEO after three months in the job.
He also sought to reassure Germans there were no plans to scrap the Hamburg-based production. He called reports otherwise “speculation.”
“I can only say we are fully aware that Hamburg is one of the pillars,” Gallois said.
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