The issue of delays in the delivery of the Airbus A380

Résumé du document

Since 2005, Airbus, one of the two world's biggest airplane manufacturers, has encountered huge delays in the delivery of the new model called A380 to its customers (see appendix 5), mainly passenger air carriers, across the world. This study analyses the characteristics of Airbus and the way it reacted to this issue from a marketing point of view and aims at giving strategic alternatives and recommendations to the aircraft producer. From a business-to-business marketing point of view, the key lesson will be the importance of trust and long-term dependency relationships in huge ventures such as the A380 project, and how trust, kept alive through clear communication, can be a mean to overcome the biggest issues.

Extraits

[...] For the first time since 2000, Boeing has recorded a higher level of orders than Airbus in 2006 (http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune). Moreover, EADS's (the Airbus parents' house) share price has decreased because of the repetitive delays. The delays have been a weakness in terms of comparative advantage for Airbus. But since Boeing is also facing delay problems with the 787 model, the competitive environment is going to be of less importance for Airbus. Suppliers and production channel members Huge delays have had a significant impact on Airbus' relationships with its suppliers and channel members. [...]

[...] Indeed, it is important to notice that the delays have had an impact on both Airbus suppliers and consumers. On the one side, the A380 orders represented huge investments for airline companies. Experiencing sometimes more than 2-year delays, consumers had to find solutions in order to keep their businesses running. On the other side, Airbus suppliers were also very dependent on the revenues of these orders to pay the wages of their workers Analysis The organization and its position in the industry A general overview Airbus is a subsidiary of European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS). [...]

[...] In addition to this, Airbus should redefine is production system. Centralization could indeed reduce the problems of lack of communication. By reducing the number of production sites, Airbus would not only gain in transport time but would also create a real center of competence for the A380. The main problem of this strategy is the implementation cost which is very high. Airbus would have to change its whole multinational production setting and would face a high political pressure, because a lot of workplaces would be erased by this restructuring decision. [...]

[...] Big plane, big problems [cited March 12 2008]. Available from http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/03/05/8401277 /index.htm. Nils Pratley. The risks justify baling out of airbus [cited March 11 2008]. Available from http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2006/sep/07/viewpointcolumn.baesystemsbus iness. Sara Kehaulani Goo. Airbus delays delivery of giant A [cited March 10 2008]. Available from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- dyn/content/article/2005/06/01/AR2005060101763.html. The Associated Press. France pledges aid to airbus A380 suppliers [cited March 10 2008]. Available from http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/10/16/business/EU_FIN_France_Airbus.php. More delays for new airbus A [cited March 12 2008]. [...]

[...] Given the fact that, for example, the cockpit is built in more than 10 different production places, a web platform like this would make communication faster and more effective and could warn Airbus earlier in case of delay. However, the integration of the suppliers and customers requires everybody, including Airbus, to share data. As big R&D efforts flowed into the development of the A380, the strategic risk to reveal information to a lot of suppliers (and customers) is non-negligible. Airbus should also think to reorganize its complex organizational structure. The main problem of the A380 is indeed a logistical one. Parts of the A380 come from over 30 countries. [...]