Free Preview of Members-Only Content
To view the requested intelligence, you must be a Stratfor.com member.
Airbus Chief Executive Gustav Humbert said April 10 that the company is willing to hold discussions with complaining customers about redesigning the A350 plane. The announcement follows growing concerns about the aero-giant among its shareholders that the company's practices have forced major supporters to divest.
On April 7, BAE Systems, Europe's largest defense contractor, announced plans to divest its 20-percent stake in Airbus and sell it to Airbus parent company European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. (EADS), which would leave EADS as the sole owner of the Airbus consortium.
EADS itself is not a single entity. France holds about 15 percent, as does French holding company Lagardere; Spain's SEPI owns 5.47 percent, Germany's DaimlerChrysler AG owns about 30 percent, and the rest is free-floating and owned by smaller investors. The BAE announcement follows DaimlerChrysler and Lagardere's April 4 divestiture from EADS by 7.5 percent each. All these sell-offs follow a series of scandals rocking both Airbus and EADS. The combination of sell-offs and scandals threatens to unhinge Airbus.
Airbus was riding high after releasing the megadouble-decker A380 plane in 2005. The company has, however, run into problems with the A350. The A350 can carry about 300 people and is supposed to compete with Boeing Co.'s 787. Unfortunately, Airbus managed to upset several important industry leaders and clients over the A350, who have criticized the plane's fuel inefficiency. Airbus essentially told International Lease Finance Corp. (ILF), one of the world's leading leasing companies and a U.S.-owned business, to buy a one-way ticket to the Bermuda Triangle when ILF said Airbus should redesign the A350.
| Stratfor Members, please log in at the top left hand corner |
