Virgin Apparently Unhappy With Airbus
Parmy Olson, 10.13.06, 7:03 PM ET

The delay of the the Airbus A380 jet has prompted Virgin to send a proposition to the aircraft maker.

A third delay to superjumbo aircraft announced at the start of October has meant "serious implications" for Virgin's order, and the airline owned by billionaire Richard Branson and Singapore Airlines had duly put together a proposal for the tardy planemaker.

The British airline has said nothing of the details, but some sort of demand for compensation is expected, with reports having said on Monday that Virgin was looking for up to £20 million ($37.1 million) in compensation. Airbus is estimated to have set aside 1 billion euros ($1.25 billion) for compensation payouts, as part of the 4.8 billion euro loss it has forecast as a consequence of the delay.

"The proposal from Virgin will probably include a number of options, which would be very strict and limited," said Doug McVitie, an analyst at Arran Aerospace, a France-based aviation consultancy.

One option might be for Airbus to provide a definite schedule for delivery of all aircraft, with specific penalties attached to each if it goes undelivered.

A second option, which Airbus will not be at all keen on, might be to defer the delivery of the A380 by three or four years, giving Virgin more time to see how other airlines fare with the new model.

"Depending on how conciliate it wants to be, Virgin could also say that it would take alternative aircraft from Airbus like the A340-600," said McVitie. "Airbus would have to pay for that, so would try to fight it, but it would have to decide which would do less long-term harm."

The other, graver options for Airbus, McVitie said, would be for Virgin to simply cancel its order and reclaim its deposit.

Malaysian Airlines, Qantas and Korean Airlines have all said they were reassessing their position in lieu of the one-year delay to the 555-seater plane. If just Virgin and Malaysia were to both pull their orders, McVitie added, the knock-on effect for Airbus would be catastrophic.

"This could bring the whole program to a halt," the analyst said.

Airbus competes with Boeing in the global commercial aircraft market."
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Really a shame if they can't get this mess straightened out in time to save the big one.

Interesting. Thanks for posting.

Airbus. Never was an airplane more appropriately named.

quote:

Originally posted by jetdrvr:
Airbus. Never was an airplane more appropriately named.

Jetdrvr:
Welome aboard! Read your comments re the Herky and could not agree more. I'll save it for now but will post up some time about coming out of Thessaloniki in a C130 with 70 some odd sailors and marines, 3 jet engines in cans and a tractor trailer load of mail on the ramp - all off grass and gravel strip. Tell me one other aircraft that will do that.
I read with no small interest what you say are the Airbus. Strange airplanes, IMHO, and if you ever wish to have a sobering experience, try buying - and paying for - spares for the Airbus and dealing with their penguin types. Not an experience anyone would relish, I assure you.
Look forward to reading more of your comments.