Questions at Airbus

News of late from Airbus has been nothing short of startling, centered around the manufacturer's announcement that it will be delaying deliveries of the much-anticipated A380 airliner. Singapore Airlines, the launch customer, reacted by ordering 20 787 'Dreamliners' from Boeing. Recent articles in The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times highlight the OEM's plight … - "Canceling the A380 altogether should be an option on the table." (TWSJ, June 20, Richard Aboulafia, Teal Group) - "Last week’s shock warning that A380 deliveries would be delayed by six to seven months because of production problems has plunged Airbus and EADS, its parent company, into crisis." (F.T., June 21) Also following the announcement, leasing firm ILFC warned it could cancel up to $3 billion in A380 orders. And Airbus is rethinking its other new aircraft, the proposed A350, but reportedly has little engineering strength to divert to that effort because of the problems with the super-jumbo airliner. All this gets back to the issue of planning for airports. FAA's Kate Lang told airports at the recent annual AAAE meeting in San Diego that it's all about planning these days for airports. Reason is, it has become very difficult to predict what will happen with the airline industry. The A380 is one more example. A number of airports have already spent millions to handle the A380; a number more are in the planning stage. At this juncture, "wait and see" would be an appropriate plan. Thanks for reading. jfi