Airbus said yesterday that it had stopped work on its troubled new A380 mega-freighter after UPS,its only remaining customer for the aircraft, indicated that it may pull out of the order later
this year.The company, while remaining committed to the freighter, said it was switching its attentionto the passenger version of the aeroplane following a revision last week of its delivery schedulewith UPS.
Airbus was due to complete the first of UPS’ 10 A380s in 2009, but the revised developmentschedule specifies new delivery dates for between 2012 and 2013, the Dow Jones news agency reportsafter seeing documents filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The first of over 160 passenger versions of the A380 is due to be up and flying withSingapore Airlines in October of this year.
The delays and an increasingly cut-throat competition war with Boeing are forcing Airbus intoa major restructuring. On Tuesday, it announced that it would axe 10,000 of 55,000 jobs in France,Germany, the UK and Spain.
UPS and Airbus signed an agreement on Thursday last week containing a new timetable fordeciding the status of UPS’s $2.8 billion order follows production delays, mainly due to electricalwiring problems. Either company can pull out of the order if any more problems or delays arise.
