Ottimismo e confusione
Aerei Italiani
PARIS, Dec 17 (AFP) - Defense ministers from eight European
nations are to sign a nearly 16-billion-euro (14.5-billion-dollar)
contract Tuesday covering the purchase by their governments of the
new Airbus A400M military transport plane.
The deal, expected to be sealed in Brussels during a NATO
ministerial meeting, represents the largest joint defense project
ever undertaken in Europe.
Germany is committed to taking 73 of the aircraft, France 50,
Spain 27, Britain 25, Turkey 10, Belgium 7, Portugal 3 and
Luxembourg 1.
Italy, which was once associated with the project and had
planned to take 16 planes, recently signalled its lack of interest.
The plane is to be manufactured by the Airbus Military Company,
in which Airbus Inustrie is the major player, alongside Flabel of
Belgium, TAU of Turkey and OGMA of Portugal.
Airbus itself is 80 percent controlled by the European aerospace
giant EADS, with the rest held by BAE Systems of Britain.
Tuesday's signing was delayed twice because of financial
reservations expressed by Germany, without whose backing the project
would never have gotten off the ground.
But the German government last week decided to include funds for
its 73 planes in the 2002 and 2003 budgets, with financing divided
into two installments -- each one worth 5.1 billion euros -- over
two years. A portion of the financing will still have to be approved
by parliament.
The German decision was crucial, notably as Britain, citing its
urgent military needs, had let it be known it would abandon its
commitment to buy 25 planes if the overall program were not approved
by the end of the year.
Final assembly of the aircraft will be done by an EADS
subsidiary on Spain. Germany, aided by Turkey, will make the
fuselage, Britain and Belgium the wings and France and Portugal the
cockpit and flight control systems.
Deliveries of the A400m are scheduled to begin in 2007.
Post n.2 confusione:
TOULOUSE, France (AP) -- European aircraft maker Airbus SAS plans
to cut 500 jobs in Britain and will reduce the total number of
employee work hours by 20 percent to cope with declining demand,
the company's top executive said Monday.
Chairman Noel Foregard said Airbus will cut 500 jobs in Britain
following a decision by British aerospace company BAE Systems to
shut down production of regional jets. BAE Systems holds a
one-fifth stake in Airbus, a European consortium.
Forgeard told reporters the reduction in work hours will be
structured to avoid a need for additional outright job cuts.
Instead, Airbus will rely on attrition and temporary layoffs, he
said.
Forgeard spoke on the sidelines of a gathering to mark the first
delivery of its A330-200 airliner to Air France, which has ordered
eight of the planes.
A spokesman for British subsidiary Airbus UK in London said
separately that up to 2,000 jobs could potentially be eliminated --
18 percent of its work force -- unless employees agree to stop
working overtime and accept other cost-cutting measures.
``On the manufacturing front, we have to get our costs down ...
About 2,000 jobs would be at risk if we just carried on the way we
are today,'' spokesman Howard Berry said. The British unit produces
the wings and undercarriage for Airbus airliners.
Airbus, based in Toulouse, has some 47,000 employees, mostly in
its four founding countries: Britain, France, Germany and Spain.
Like Chicago-based Boeing Co., its leading competitor, Airbus
has been hit by fallout from the Sept. 11 attacks in the United
States. Boeing has said it plans to cut as many as 30,000 jobs by
the middle of next year.
Airbus recently lowered the number of commercial aircraft it
expects to deliver in 2002 to 300 from 375 before the attacks.
Forgeard said it is too early to provide a forecast for 2003.
In a separate matter, Forgeard said leaders from several
European countries are expected to sign an international protocol
on Airbus' eight-nation A400M military transport plane program
Tuesday in Brussels.
The German Parliament has approved funds to purchase 40 to 50
A400Ms, although the government has said it wants to buy 73.
Forgeard said he hopes German lawmakers will allocate extra funding
in January to allow Germany to fulfill its pledge to acquire all 73
planes.
Un saluto.
Diego