A380 Delivered, But Production Challenges Remain

Production issues remain front-and-center concerns for Airbus for both the A380 and the twinjet wide-body A350, even as the aircraft maker celebrates the first customer delivery of the mega-transport to Singapore Airlines (SIA).

The next big milestone for Airbus occurs in November, when the preferred buyers for various production sites on the market in France, Germany and Spain will be announced, says Tom Williams, Airbus executive vice president for programs. The process in Germany has lagged in particular, but Airbus wants to make a single announcement naming all site finalists.

The delay in site decisions has some potential industrial partners worried that this could impact development of the A350—partners are assured work on Airbus’s answer to the Boeing 787. Some of them fear that delays could mean long-lead production tooling may not be bought quickly enough. Williams concedes that the holdup “makes things more complicated,” but adds that Airbus has tried to decouple the A350 development activities and site selection process. If necessary, the manufacturer will go ahead and make the long-lead time orders to ensure the A350 schedule stays on track.

Airbus is trying to see what lessons could be learned from the 787 production travails. The European aircraft maker is following Boeing down the path to a more global supply chain and both development programs have very ambitious time lines.