Airbus Announces New A380 Delays; First UPS Delivery in 2010


Airbus has announced a new, year-long delay in deliveries of the A380, a setback that will push the program roughly two years behind its original schedule and now affects the freighter version of the aircraft.

Because of the new delay, Airbus has notified UPS of a “provisional schedule” pushing back the delivery of UPS’s first A380 from Sept. 2009 to May 2010. The company has a firm order for 10 aircraft, with options for an additional ten.

“The revised schedule from Airbus calls for us to take delivery of three A380s in 2010, three in 2011 and the final four in 2012,” said Public Relations Manager Mark Giuffre.

Giuffre said UPS is now asking Airbus for additional information about the causes of the newest delay. “Our primary objective is to meet our customers’ needs and we need as much information as possible to evaluate how we can best do that in light of these new developments,” he said.

The first A380 delivery, to Singapore Airlines, now won’t take place until next October. Airbus has 159 firm orders for the double deck jet, including 45 from a single airline, Emirates. FedEx has ordered ten A380 freighters.

Christian Streiff, president and CEO of Airbus at the time of the latest delay announcement, said the delays are due in part to the design and installation of electrical harnesses in the A380’s forward and aft fuselage. Streiff has since resigned his position and been replaced by a co-CEO of EADS, the parent company of Airbus.

“The problem first became apparent when the electrical harnesses were installed in the fuselage. There were mismatches between the designed routing of the electrical harnesses and the real aircraft,” Strieff’s statement said.

The aircraft has 530km (329 miles) of cables, with 100,000 wires and more than 40,000 connectors. Streiff stressed that the problem is not with the aircraft itself, but with a manufacturing process that has not kept up with pace of the rest of the program.

The delays are a financial blow to Airbus. To counter the impact of the delay, the company has launched a restructuring program dubbed “Power8” to reduce costs, save cash and develop new products.

According to an Airbus news release, “development cycle times are to be reduced by two years while overall productivity is to be increased by 20 percent.” Airbus expects to save two billion Euros per year with the restructuring.

According to media reports, several airlines are demanding compensation for the delivery delays and Airbus has set aside one billion Euros ($1.25 billion) for those payments.

No airline has announced plans to cancel its order as a result of the delays.

 

2010!!!!!!!! Jeeezzzz,, I'll be an old man(or dead) before Fedex or UPS gets their orders. Im really surprised neither has just cancelled the order.

Boeing could probably get you some B747-400's and -800's a helluva lot quicker.

 

[QUOTE=Boeing could probably get you some B747-400's and -800's a helluva lot quicker.[/QUOTE]

That really isn't the point though. The -400 and the -800 still don't have what it takes for a freighter that has to go nonstop from China to Louisvile with a big load. Yes, you could get two 747-400's, but unless you get two slots in China, it doesn't help a whole lot. They tod us that the 380 is the equivelent of a 747 with a 767 strapped on top of it. In the big scheme of things, for a company to make a plan for 4 years out isn't that bad.

 

I'll bet my house cat that when its all "said & done". You'll still end up landing in Anchorage for fuel. I'm just starting to get that feeling.

 

I woudn't be totally shocked either

 

Ran into Rick Barr and J Barnes the other night in CGN. They had just gotten in from Toulouse. They were given a ride in the A380. Probably just an assurance that the airplanes will come. I'm sure they were there to discuss "other things" as well.