Forbes.com:
Breaking Up Airbus
Jon Bruner and Godwin Maidment 03.20.07, 10:00 AM ET
The A380, the world's largest passenger airliner and the plane on which Airbus has bet its future, made its much-awaited debut U.S. landing at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport Monday.
The landing went smoothly, but that's one of the few positives for the troubled jumbo jet and its Toulouse, France-based manufacturer. The plane has been plagued by delay after delay, leaving airlines and shareholders fuming. The debacle has shattered Airbus' credibility and distanced major customers.
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A split would also allow for sharper focus and greater efficiency in management and production. McVitie, a former Airbus executive, suggested a structure for the company in which Germans take control of narrow-body production and the French take over wide-body work.
That would let the Germans work on the faster-growing and more profitable side of the airliner business, on which they are already concentrating. The wide-body line appeals to the French, for its visibility and capacity to showcase domestic engineering. Commercially, though, it would produce niche products and might require subsidies, which the French government would likely be willing to supply. More...
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