The Airbus saga: Hubris and haste snarled the A380

International Herald Tribune ^ | 12/11/2006 | Nicola Clark

[Paul Ross]

On Jan. 18, 2005, top executives of Airbus and its parent company, European Aeronautic Defense & Space, staged the aviation industry's equivalent of a Broadway musical for the A380s coming-out party here, complete with strobe lights, smoke machines and chorus girls. Before a rapt audience, Jacques Chirac, the French president, extolled the colossal, twin-deck jet as an unparalleled symbol of European manufacturing prowess.

[skeptoid]

,/i.". .....by the time assembly of the first A380 began in the summer of 2004, the weaknesses of the German design tools were already apparent. SNIP ....fuselage sections that were supposed to be shipped "prestuffed" with their electrical cables arrived with half or less of the required wiring. SNIP The still- unresolved wiring problems involved the plane's empty fuselage section and not the crucial cockpit and hydraulics systems, making it possible to move ahead with initial test flights. SNIP "There was a lot of thumb-twiddling," said one A380 mechanic, who insisted on anonymity. "At a certain point, there were too many of us and not enough cables, it was crazy," he said. Frequently, wires that were installed one day would have to be ripped out the next."

This is revelation. ..... I hadn't heard these details... just had to post and wonder why there are no other replies.
I'm finishing the article.

[skeptoid]

Between interruptions, I just finished reading the article.

I've been involved entrapped in this kind of executive stupidity in the past and I am extremely gunshy. This scenario may sound implausible to some, but I'm beginning to think it is almost SOP, especially in large organizations. How can it be?

"The recent crisis has at least had the merit of being cathartic. Acrimony has eased, Airbus insiders say, and in the corner offices of Airbus headquarters, executives are beginning to speak more openly about the lessons learned."

As to this closing quote; don't anyone hold your breath. Airbus is toast unless there is a massacre in the leadership and persons of integrity take over.

And the demise of Airbus would be a very undesireable event.

Ask Baseler.

[Yo-Yo]

In the interest of creating a better ping system, the keyword "AEROSPACE" was added to your post.