Airbus has informed its A380 customers of a further delay in the delivery schedule of the A380. According to a revised plan, the first A380 will be delivered in October 2007. Thirteen more will be delivered in 2008 and 25 in 2009. The industrial ramp-up will be completed in 2010, when 45 A380s are to be delivered.

In June, the amount of work to be done to complete the installation of the electrical harnesses in the forward and aft sections of the fuselage had been underestimated. Beyond the complexity of the cable installation, the root cause of the problem was due to the fact that the 3-D digital mock-up, which facilitates the design of the electrical harnesses installation, was implemented late and employees working on it were still in a learning curve.

Under the leadership of the new Airbus president, Christian Streiff, strong measures have been taken which, in addition to management changes, include the implementation of the same proven tools on all sites, as well as the creation of multinational teams to better use the best skills available.

Furthermore, in order to regain its competitive edge and to counter the financial impact of the delay — as well as the weakening dollar — Airbus is launching what it call its Power8 program. The objective of the program is to reduce costs, save cash and develop new products faster. The development cycle times are to be reduced by two years while the overall productivity is to be increased by 20%. The program aims at annual cost savings of at least 2 billion euros from 2010 onward and some 5 billion euros in cumulative cash savings by 2010.

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