www.uninews.com

Report: Airbus chief said to be close to stepping down 

Paris, Oct 8, 2006 (UNI) 

The rumours may finally be true.

The head of the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus, Christian Streiff, is set to resign because of a power struggle with the executives of the firm’s parent company, EADS, the International Herald Tribune reported Monday.

According to the Paris-based English-language daily, Streiff’s resignation could come as early as later on Monday. Airbus on Monday refused to comment on Streiff’s status.

Citing three anonymous sources ‘‘with direct knowledge of the situation,’’ the newspaper said the conflict between Streiff and his superiors at EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company) centred on how much autonomy he and his staff would have in implementing the plan to rescue Airbus from its present crisis that was announced last week.

The crisis was provoked by production problems of the Airbus A380 superjumbo, which has now delayed delivery to its customers of the largest commercial airliner ever built by up to two years, costing the company 4.8 billion euros over four years. Streiff was hired on July 2 to replace Gustav Humbert after the announcement of a second A380 delivery delay sent EADS shares plunging on European bourses.

On September 29, Streiff presented an extensive restructuring plan to EADS executives that included significant job cuts and the transfer of all A380 production from the German city of Hamburg to Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, in southern France. Streiff was also for abandoning the Airbus A350 project. 

According to the International Herald Tribune, which cited a person with ‘‘knowledge of the proceedings,’’ Streiff threatened to resign in protest after his suggestions were rejected. The daily Le Monde reported in its weekend edition that Streiff also demanded the power to hire and a clear chain of command so that he would not be short-circuited and would not have to justify every decision to EADS management. However, stung repeatedly by revelations of A380 delivery delays and cost overruns, the management of EADS insisted on having more of a say in Airbus business and production. In addition, Streiff’s proposal to move A380 production from Hamburg to Toulouse set off political alarm bells in Germany, and forced EADS co-chief Thomas Enders to say that Hamburg was ‘‘our second most important production site, and we are committed to it.’’

On Friday, the French business daily La Tribune reported that Streiff had already made moves to look for another job, reportedly meeting with members of the Peugeot family about taking over the French car-maker’s top job when its present head, Jean-Martin Folz, retires at the end of the year.

karatecatman wrote:

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The latest!!!

www.uninews.com

EADS to replace Streiff with Gallois as Airbus chief: source

 

PARIS, Oct 9, 2006 (UNI) 

The European aerospace group EADS is ready to replace Christian Streiff as chief executive of its aircraft subsidiary Airbus with EADS co-chairman Louis Gallois, a source close to the matter told foreign agency AFP on Monday.

The European Aeronautic Defence and Space company (EADS) expected to accept Streiff’s mooted resignation, the source said.

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But I read just now on CNN that french PM has asked Streiff "not to resign". This is latest

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/investing-and-markets/article.html?in_article_id=413458&in_page_id=3

Airbus chief departs
Reuters
9 October 2006

Airbus lost its second chief executive in three months today after his plans for resolving a crisis caused by delays to the A380 superjumbo offended Germany and opened a rift with parent EADS.

As the planemaker announced the resignation of Chief Executive Christian Streiff, Germany's finance minister hinted at the political tensions behind the current problems by telling the company to treat its German factories 'equally'.

Streiff is replaced by Louis Gallois, co-chief executive of EADS. The resignation announcement came on the 100th day since Streiff's appointment - a milestone the former glass industry chief had set for finding out why Airbus was floundering.

'Christian Streiff will leave Airbus and will be replaced by Louis Gallois,' the source said, adding that Gallois would keep his duties at EADS.

The office of French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, who had backed Streiff on Sunday, said that Villepin had met Gallois for talks on Monday.

Gallois used to run Aerospatiale, one of the European aerospace groups that were folded into a merged EADS in 2000.

Hired in July to resolve a crisis over A380 delays and Airbus's declining market share, Streiff put his job on the line last week by asking the EADS board to back or sack him over his plans for a radical overhaul, a source close to the matter said.

But support from the French and German heads of EADS dwindled amid criticism of Streiff's no-nonsense approach to reshaping the company, and by Monday the EADS board was ready to accept Streiff's resignation, a source close to the firm said.

'It's true,' the source said, asked about speculation that the EADS board was resigned to parting with Streiff and beginning the search for a fourth Airbus chief in 18 months.

An industry source who closely watches EADS said the former glass industry boss's position had become untenable after he exposed deep flaws in Airbus's industrial methods and raised the prospect of sensitive job cuts without adequate political cover.

Streiff said last week Airbus needed a radical cost-cutting plan and industrial streamlining to save €2bn a year because of internal inefficiencies and a weak dollar that benefits demand for planes built by rival Boeing.

Germany responded icily to his plans, especially to suggestions that Airbus teams in Hamburg were responsible for the wiring installation faults that have pushed the A380 two years behind schedule by working on obsolete design software.

'It's important to us that German factories be treated equally in view of current difficulties,' Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck told reporters on Monday on the margins of a meeting of EU finance ministers.

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Airbus!!! Don't sink. Please!!!

Something from their website

Louis Gallois appointed new Airbus President and Chief Executive Officer.
10 October 2006

Louis Gallois took office at Airbus' headquarters in Toulouse today, meeting with the Airbus Executives, as well as with the local Officials and Union representatives. This follows his appointment yesterday evening by the EADS Board of Directors as new President and Chief Executive Officer of Airbus with immediate effect. Mr Gallois remains Co-CEO of EADS, a position he held since July 2006. Mr Gallois succeeds Christian Streiff, who has resigned from this position. Mr Gallois joins Airbus with a vast experience in the aviation business, having been head of SNECMA (now Safran) and Aerospatiale (now part of EADS) in the late 80ies and 90ies.

A graduate of the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC) and in Economic Science, as well as of the Ecole Nationale de l'Administration (ENA), Louis Gallois started his career in 1972 in the staff of the French Department of the Treasury. In 1981 he became Head of the Cabinet Office of the Ministry of Research and Industry, becoming Director General for Industry in the same Ministry one year later. In 1988 he was nominated to the position of Head of the Civil and Military Cabinet office of the French Ministry of Defence.

In 1989, Louis Gallois moved to the industry, being first appointed Chairman and CEO of the aeronautical engine manufacturer SNECMA, now part of Safran. In 1992, he became Chairman and CEO of French aerospace manufacturer Aerospatiale (now part of EADS). In this capacity he was a member of the Airbus Industrie Groupement d'Intérêt Economique (GIE) Supervisory Board, and in charge of the Aerospatiale Airbus Division. From 1996 until June 2006, Louis Gallois was Chairman of the French National Railways (SNCF). Since the creation of EADS in 2001, he was also a member of the grouping's Board of Directors.

Louis Gallois is also a Board member of the Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures (school of Engineering) as well as Chairman of the Fondation Villette-Entreprises.

Born in January 1944, Louis Gallois is married with three children.

Louis Gallois hold the title of Officier de l'ordre National du mérite (Officer of the French notional order of merit) and Officier de la Légion d'Honneur (officier of the French legion of Honour).

http://www.airbus.com/en/presscentre/pressreleases/pressreleases_items/06_10_10_louis_gallois.html

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13130-2406553,00.html
Turbulence hits second launch at Airbus
By David Robertson
 
THE Airbus A350 may be delayed until 2014, senior figures in the aviation industry have predicted.
The aircraft, which will compete with Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, has already been sent back for a redesign and was due to come into service in 2012.

Airbus is expected to announce the industrial launch — the formal commitment to build — of the A350 in the next few weeks, but the delivery date appears to be sliding backwards. At 2014 it would be a full six years behind the delivery of the first Boeing 787.

Airbus said that any talk of a slip in the launch date was just speculation.

The European aircraft manufacturer has suffered a miserable year. It is under its third chief executive in three months and has announced a succession of delays to its flagship A380 superjumbo project.

The Boeing 787 is the most successful aircraft launch in aviation history and already it has won 455 orders worth $67 billion (£36 billion). Airlines have jumped at the chance to buy a plane that is 20 per cent more fuel efficient than current competitor models.

Its fuel efficiency comes from being 50 per cent made from composites — hardened plastics. This makes the aircraft lighter and therefore it burns less fuel, making it cheaper to run and more environmentally friendly.

In order to regain the initiative, Airbus is looking at producing an all-composite A350, which would, in fact, be 70 per cent plastic, as some parts have to remain metal. According to Airbus’s suppliers, the company wants to go all-composite and is talking about the equipment needed to do this.

It is thought to be looking at making the aircraft from “black aluminium”; panels of carbon fibre that would be riveted together in the same way as existing aluminium panels.

Aviation sources say it is now accepted within Airbus that the A350 will not be delivered in 2012 but in late 2013 or 2014.

This will be the second aircraft in a row that Airbus has failed to deliver on time — the A380 will also be two years’ late when the first delivery is made late next year.

A spokesman for Airbus said: “Reports of a further two-year delay to the A350 programme are just speculation. With the decision on an industrial launch of the programme this year, possibly as early as the end of October, it will be possible to be more definitive then.”

If the A350 is delayed until 2014, it will effectively hand the mid-size market to Boeing as the American company will have a five to six-year headstart.

Pushing delivery back to 2014 also starts to run into the proposed development window for the next generation of single-aisle aircraft that will replace the Boeing 737 and Airbus 320.

Boeing is thought to be aiming to introduce a new version of the 737, commonly known as the workhorse of the skies, in 2015 or 2016.

Some aviation analysts believe that Airbus should postpone the A350 indefinitely to be sure that it can redevelop the A320 before the 737.
 
 

Airbus has confirmed 8 A380 orders from Qantas. That makes their total to 20

This is indeed a setback for the A380F program...now rumours floating around that even UPS might cancel its A380F deal and go for B748iF instead

Airbus' new site to promote A350

http://www.airbus.com/store/mm_repository/flash/a350xwb/airbus/