Post by corsair67 on Jun 20, 2006 9:49:41 GMT 12
There seem to be a few problems brewing at Airbus.............Sounds like another case of too many Chiefs and not enough Indians?
I think their customer service leaves a lot to be desired, especially after the earlier announcement of delays in the A380 production/delivery schedule which wasn't handled very well by Airbus and greatly angered their first A380 customer, Singapore Airlines.
Also, it doesn't look good when the Co-Chief Executive and his family are dumping the company shares either!
Anyway, Boeing will no doubt be happy to hear of these problems!
Airbus not flying off rails
From correspondents in Paris
June 19, 2006.
THE co-chief executive of EADS, Noel Forgeard, said he had confidence in the head of the company's aircraft unit Airbus, while calling for a review of top executives' roles at the two entities, the La Tribune newspaper reported today.
"I remain confident in Gustav Humbert and we support him in the recovery which is taking place under his management" at Airbus, Mr Forgeard told the French financial newspaper.
EADS went into a tailspin last week after its unit Airbus announced that production problems would delay delivery of its A380 superjumbo airliner, the world's biggest civilian aircraft, designed to compete with US rival Boeing.
Regarding concerns about transparency between Airbus and its parent company, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space company (EADS), Mr Forgeard also called for changes in the relationship between top management at EADS and at Airbus.
The EADS group is confronting a situation where it had a predominant unit, Airbus, and "it must define the respective roles of their top management," he said.
The news, coupled with a profit warning, sparked huge losses in EADS shares on Wednesday, when the group saw more than a quarter of its market value disappear.
EADS subsequently regained some ground and on Friday closed with a loss limited to 0.50 per cent at 19.90 euros. Over five days however the group's stock shed 25.05 per cent.
The problems at Toulouse-based Airbus and within EADS have drawn attention to apparent breakdowns in internal communications and to the way the group kept customers and shareholders informed of production issues.
Mr Forgeard, who headed Airbus until 2005, on Wednesday implicitly criticised Mr Humbert, his German successor, saying: "During my time at Airbus we never missed the projections we gave."
Industry analysts in Germany said Forgeard's remarks could exacerbate Franco-German tension at EADS.
They noted that Forgeard's German counterpart at EADS, co-chief executive Thomas Enders, and other German executives have been strangely silent since the storm broke on Tuesday, leaving it to Forgeard to face the music.
But in the La Tribune article, Mr Forgeard played down the issue, saying he was working closely with Mr Enders and Mr Humbert: "We are dealing with this crisis together."
"I do not see anything that would feed any sort of dissension between the French and Germans," he said.
Mr Forgeard has also had to fight back against suggestions he may have acted improperly when he sold shares in EADS worth millions of euros in March, almost three months before the A380 delays were announced.
His children and five other senior EADS officials also sold significant numbers of shares in March for several million euros.
"I had no privileged information," Mr Forgeard insisted in a radio interview on Friday, adding that when he sold the shares he had been unaware of the difficulties with the A380 program, which he found out about in April.
EADS too asserted there had been no irregularities in the stock sales.
However the French financial markets regulator AMF said on Friday it had been investigating trading in EADS shares "for weeks."
Despite the controversy swirling around EADS, French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said on RTL radio Sunday: "It would have preferable not to have delays in the A380, but it is no reason to throw the A380 out with bath water."
I think their customer service leaves a lot to be desired, especially after the earlier announcement of delays in the A380 production/delivery schedule which wasn't handled very well by Airbus and greatly angered their first A380 customer, Singapore Airlines.
Also, it doesn't look good when the Co-Chief Executive and his family are dumping the company shares either!
Anyway, Boeing will no doubt be happy to hear of these problems!
Airbus not flying off rails
From correspondents in Paris
June 19, 2006.
THE co-chief executive of EADS, Noel Forgeard, said he had confidence in the head of the company's aircraft unit Airbus, while calling for a review of top executives' roles at the two entities, the La Tribune newspaper reported today.
"I remain confident in Gustav Humbert and we support him in the recovery which is taking place under his management" at Airbus, Mr Forgeard told the French financial newspaper.
EADS went into a tailspin last week after its unit Airbus announced that production problems would delay delivery of its A380 superjumbo airliner, the world's biggest civilian aircraft, designed to compete with US rival Boeing.
Regarding concerns about transparency between Airbus and its parent company, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space company (EADS), Mr Forgeard also called for changes in the relationship between top management at EADS and at Airbus.
The EADS group is confronting a situation where it had a predominant unit, Airbus, and "it must define the respective roles of their top management," he said.
The news, coupled with a profit warning, sparked huge losses in EADS shares on Wednesday, when the group saw more than a quarter of its market value disappear.
EADS subsequently regained some ground and on Friday closed with a loss limited to 0.50 per cent at 19.90 euros. Over five days however the group's stock shed 25.05 per cent.
The problems at Toulouse-based Airbus and within EADS have drawn attention to apparent breakdowns in internal communications and to the way the group kept customers and shareholders informed of production issues.
Mr Forgeard, who headed Airbus until 2005, on Wednesday implicitly criticised Mr Humbert, his German successor, saying: "During my time at Airbus we never missed the projections we gave."
Industry analysts in Germany said Forgeard's remarks could exacerbate Franco-German tension at EADS.
They noted that Forgeard's German counterpart at EADS, co-chief executive Thomas Enders, and other German executives have been strangely silent since the storm broke on Tuesday, leaving it to Forgeard to face the music.
But in the La Tribune article, Mr Forgeard played down the issue, saying he was working closely with Mr Enders and Mr Humbert: "We are dealing with this crisis together."
"I do not see anything that would feed any sort of dissension between the French and Germans," he said.
Mr Forgeard has also had to fight back against suggestions he may have acted improperly when he sold shares in EADS worth millions of euros in March, almost three months before the A380 delays were announced.
His children and five other senior EADS officials also sold significant numbers of shares in March for several million euros.
"I had no privileged information," Mr Forgeard insisted in a radio interview on Friday, adding that when he sold the shares he had been unaware of the difficulties with the A380 program, which he found out about in April.
EADS too asserted there had been no irregularities in the stock sales.
However the French financial markets regulator AMF said on Friday it had been investigating trading in EADS shares "for weeks."
Despite the controversy swirling around EADS, French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said on RTL radio Sunday: "It would have preferable not to have delays in the A380, but it is no reason to throw the A380 out with bath water."
