DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post - What's wrong at Airbus? Will the A380 sink the ship?

**golozhopik** · 10-07-2006, 10:33 PM

Looks like the heart transplant has been rejected by the patient...

The rumor surfaced Friday and was confirmed by the FT over the weekend...

It's amazing that the affairs of a corporation are the subject of a hastily arranged cabinet meeting and summit between heads of government. Not at all healthy, IMO. And the Russians buying into the company is an interesting twist. Actually, it seems possible that the Russians could provide something of an answer to Airbus's cost structure problem. If you're going to create a geopolitical bastard of a company, you might as well do it completely.

http://business.scotsman.com/latest....6&format=print

Sun 8 Oct 2006
Questions on Airbus chief as more turbulence looms

By Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Plane-maker Airbus faced another stormy week as speculation mounted that CEO Christian Streiff could bolt the firm after just three months in the job and Franco-German tensions rose amid the looming threat of job cuts.
Click to learn more...

An article to appear in Monday's edition of German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that Airbus parent EADS was searching urgently for a successor to Streiff after he submitted his resignation last week.

Echoing other reports over the weekend, it said EADS had lost confidence in Streiff amid disagreements over his cost-cutting plans for the Toulouse, France-based jet maker.

A spokesman for EADS , Europe's largest aerospace and defence group, declined to comment on the unsourced report, calling it "speculation". Airbus denied its new CEO was leaving when reports of his resignation first surfaced on Friday.

Streiff got a vote of confidence on Sunday from French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, who said he should stay. "He is doing a formidable job and there is no reason for Christian Streiff's resignation," Villepin said in a televised interview.

The departure of Streiff would represent another major blow to EADS, which saw its shares tumble last week after it announced new delays in its A380 superjumbo -- a plane it hoped would deliver a knockout punch to U.S. rival Boeing .

Formed in 2000 from a merger of leading German and French aerospace firms, EADS had hoped Streiff would be the man to turn around Airbus, whose previous chief Gustav Humbert and EADS co-CEO Noel Forgeard were forced out in July because of problems with the A380.

The world's largest airliner is now two years behind schedule as engineers struggle to overcome wiring problems.

In response, Streiff has vowed to cut costs, saying deep changes are needed at its network of manufacturing sites. But his plans appear to have run into resistance in EADS management circles as well as the French and German governments.

EADS has pledged to consult workers before selling plants or cutting jobs, but that has not allayed deep concerns in Germany that the 12,000 staff who work for the firm in Hamburg are at risk. German politicians have warned the firm that looming arms deals could be at risk if jobs go.

FRANCO-GERMAN TENSIONS

The problems are rekindling Franco-German tensions that have plagued the firm since its creation and burst into the open last year amid a power struggle led by Forgeard -- the Frenchman who launched the A380 project.

In a weekend magazine article, German Defence Minister Franz-Josef Jung warned against the French gaining too much influence in EADS, which has a dual-management structure to preserve Franco-German balance.

"We must prevent things from moving in the direction of the French," Jung was quoted as saying in Der Spiegel.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Jacques Chirac are due to meet in Paris on Thursday and will discuss the firm's problems.

The German government is believed to be worried that France or Russia could seek to boost their stakes in EADS, upsetting its delicate shareholder balance.

The French government owns 15 percent of EADS, while German car-maker DaimlerChrysler and French media group Lagardere are reducing their stakes to 22.5 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively.

Last month a Russian state bank bought a 5 percent stake in the firm. Speculation surfaced over the past week that Berlin could also buy into the firm to safeguard its interests, but the government has said it has no current plans to do so.

10-07-2006, 10:33 PM	#31
golozhopik Join Date Nov 2005 Posts 498 Senior Member	Looks like the heart transplant has been rejected by the patient... The rumor surfaced Friday and was confirmed by the FT over the weekend... It's amazing that the affairs of a corporation are the subject of a hastily arranged cabinet meeting and summit between heads of government. Not at all healthy, IMO. And the Russians buying into the company is an interesting twist. Actually, it seems possible that the Russians could provide something of an answer to Airbus's cost structure problem. If you're going to create a geopolitical bastard of a company, you might as well do it completely. http://business.scotsman.com/latest....6&format=print Sun 8 Oct 2006 Questions on Airbus chief as more turbulence looms By Noah Barkin BERLIN (Reuters) - Plane-maker Airbus faced another stormy week as speculation mounted that CEO Christian Streiff could bolt the firm after just three months in the job and Franco-German tensions rose amid the looming threat of job cuts. Click to learn more... An article to appear in Monday's edition of German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that Airbus parent EADS was searching urgently for a successor to Streiff after he submitted his resignation last week. Echoing other reports over the weekend, it said EADS had lost confidence in Streiff amid disagreements over his cost-cutting plans for the Toulouse, France-based jet maker. A spokesman for EADS , Europe's largest aerospace and defence group, declined to comment on the unsourced report, calling it "speculation". Airbus denied its new CEO was leaving when reports of his resignation first surfaced on Friday. Streiff got a vote of confidence on Sunday from French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, who said he should stay. "He is doing a formidable job and there is no reason for Christian Streiff's resignation," Villepin said in a televised interview. The departure of Streiff would represent another major blow to EADS, which saw its shares tumble last week after it announced new delays in its A380 superjumbo -- a plane it hoped would deliver a knockout punch to U.S. rival Boeing . Formed in 2000 from a merger of leading German and French aerospace firms, EADS had hoped Streiff would be the man to turn around Airbus, whose previous chief Gustav Humbert and EADS co-CEO Noel Forgeard were forced out in July because of problems with the A380. The world's largest airliner is now two years behind schedule as engineers struggle to overcome wiring problems. In response, Streiff has vowed to cut costs, saying deep changes are needed at its network of manufacturing sites. But his plans appear to have run into resistance in EADS management circles as well as the French and German governments. EADS has pledged to consult workers before selling plants or cutting jobs, but that has not allayed deep concerns in Germany that the 12,000 staff who work for the firm in Hamburg are at risk. German politicians have warned the firm that looming arms deals could be at risk if jobs go. FRANCO-GERMAN TENSIONS The problems are rekindling Franco-German tensions that have plagued the firm since its creation and burst into the open last year amid a power struggle led by Forgeard -- the Frenchman who launched the A380 project. In a weekend magazine article, German Defence Minister Franz-Josef Jung warned against the French gaining too much influence in EADS, which has a dual-management structure to preserve Franco-German balance. "We must prevent things from moving in the direction of the French," Jung was quoted as saying in Der Spiegel. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Jacques Chirac are due to meet in Paris on Thursday and will discuss the firm's problems. The German government is believed to be worried that France or Russia could seek to boost their stakes in EADS, upsetting its delicate shareholder balance. The French government owns 15 percent of EADS, while German car-maker DaimlerChrysler and French media group Lagardere are reducing their stakes to 22.5 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively. Last month a Russian state bank bought a 5 percent stake in the firm. Speculation surfaced over the past week that Berlin could also buy into the firm to safeguard its interests, but the government has said it has no current plans to do so.
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