Louis Gallois warned on Tuesday that there would likely be painful job losses at Airbus in the wake of delays to the A380 superjumbo and a resulting profit warning.
PARIS: Louis Gallois, the newly appointed head of planemaker Airbus, warned on Tuesday that there would likely be painful job losses at Airbus in the wake of delays to the A380 superjumbo and a resulting profit warning.
"There will be job cuts," Gallois told France's Europe 1 radio station. But he said the cuts were more likely to be in administrative and management jobs because the current structure was too heavy and the group needed its blue-worker workers in order to be able to make and deliver its planes.
Gallois, who remains co-CEO of parent EADS, was named late on Monday to replace Christian Streiff as Airbus chief after a week after Airbus pushed back its A380 superjumbo by another year and issued a new profit warning.
Streiff had been at the helm of Airbus for just three months.
Gallois said decisions on the Airbus structure would be taken in several months while he hoped the EADS board would give its go-ahead for the launch of the planned A350 midsize passenger aircraft in the next few months.
He added that the weak dollar had eroded Airbus's competitiveness versus arch rival Boeing Co and the European group therefore needed to cut its cost base, as planned in the "Power8" plan drawn up by Streiff.
Gallois said Airbus cost-cutting measures would have to be evenly split between its French and German operations. He added that Airbus now had a more simplified management structure than before because of his double role.
Analysts have often said that Airbus has been hampered by internal tensions between the French and German parts of the company, but Gallois denied this was the case since Airbus's superjumbo woes stemmed mainly from difficulties installing wiring.
"This isn't a French or a German problem, it's a problem specific to Airbus," he said, adding that Airbus needed to be a better integrated company.
Gallois added he hoped that French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Angela Merkel would pledge their support for the company at a Franco-German meeting later this week.
EADS shares opened one per cent higher, at 20.39 euros, after a drop of over 36 per cent so far this year.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}