Quick: what is worse than French management? Answer: French management. Plus the rest of Europe in a grand cooperative venture intended to demonstrate the superior virtue of the European social model. From Tim Lifson at Real Clear Politics.
Airbus and its parent EADS are the product of mergers done in the name of European unity, intended to produce a giant that could compete with the likes of Boeing and Lockheed-Martin in both civil aviation and defense. State shareholders and "launch aid" funding make it beholden to political interests, not markets alone, in its decision-making. It is often cited as a "social enterprise" of the European model, not merely interested in profits, but in public service and the welfare of its employees.
Such muddled thinking has produced results that are currently serving nobody. Except maybe sales executives of rival Boeing, chalking up more and more orders for the 787 Dreamliner, a smaller, more efficient, longer range competitor, offering passengers the option of avoiding crowded hub airports and time consuming changes of plane, and flying nonstop to their destination.
It's hard to think of a better model for socialist engineering than Airbus's latest Spruce Goose, the 380 Superjumbo Jet.
As a supreme symbol of Europe's prowess in aerospace, indeed in modern technology itself, the A 380 superjumbo jet, is melting down. No longer the embodiment of European cooperation and unity, its third announced delivery delay reveals internal chaos, bickering, finger-pointing and recrimination within Airbus and its parent EADS.
The whalejet, as it is known to some, has morphed from queen of the air into drama queen of the air.
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