New Airbus boss: Woes due to weak dollar

AP ^ | Oct. 10, 2006 | LAURENCE FROST

[bert]

I had a group of Scout families come to America to visit our troop. That was the main and oft repeated observation....we live in big houses. You guys have lots of space.

[Paleo Conservative]

Bush's fault.

Ben Bernanke
Chairman of the Federal Reserve

If you want on or off my aerospace ping list, please contact me by Freep mail.

[DownInFlames]

How about a weak brain. There is no one else to blame except Airbus' Management.

[poobear]

"Scout families" Pardon my ignorance as I am Scott/Irish and English, is that you spell a plural Scott? Please no disrespect intended, just a bodunk question from this Southerner.

[FreeManWhoCan]

Wow. What a mess for AB. I expect more "resignation" before the year is up.

[antiRepublicrat]

You recall incorrectly. It came out at $1.20. Now it's $1.25.

I believe it, since it was a while ago. But I do remember the big euro dip/dollar surge, as it made me very happy for a time.

[Covenantor]

Sounds like a real French Man with a Plan. Read his CV
__________________________________________

FROM OBSCURITY TO THE SPOTLIGHT

Born in Montauban in the southwest of France, Gallois graduated from the École des Hautes Études Commerciales and also attended the École Nationale d'Administration. Beginning in 1972 he worked in relative obscurity in various

Louis Gallois.

AP/Wide World Photos

. posts for France's Ministries of Economy and Finance, Research and Industry, and Defense. In 1989 he emerged in the spotlight when he was named head of the Société Nationale d'Étude et de Construction de Moteurs d'Aviation (Snecma), a state-run enterprise involved in developing and manufacturing civil and military engines for Mirage jet fighters and Airbus airliners.

Gallois made a good first impression on colleagues. He visited the company's factories on the periphery of Paris and appeared to be more businesslike than his predecessor had been. Over time, however, critics noted that Gallois was unsuccessful in resolving many of Snecma's basic problems, including an overabundance of workers, inflexible work practices, protectionist pricing, and corporate extravagance.

In July 1992 Gallois was appointed chairman and CEO of Aérospatiale, the state-subsidized company involved in France's aerospace and defense industries. Although widely credited with extensive restructuring and cost cutting, Gallois could not keep the company from losing money on an epic scale. Many analysts noted that Gallois was hindered by the fact that the industry was precariously divided between state and private ownership. Nevertheless critics of Gallois, as noted by Ian Verchere in the European, complained that he "failed to transform" the business "into a profitable operation while continuing to call on the state for lavish injections of capital to stave off bankruptcy" (April 18, 1996). For his part Gallois accused the French government of endlessly vacillating over whether to provide the additional funding that he needed to institute privatization and a new economic order within the company.

[cookcounty]

Typical French, blame the Americans for all your stupid problems.

They built the A380 to show off, not because it made business sense, now the flying white elephants are coming home to roost---and it's quite a crunch.....

[Toddsterpatriot]

But I do remember the big euro dip/dollar surge

Yes, the Euro went from $1.20 to $0.80 to $1.35. It is currently about $1.25.

[N. Theknow]

Now well-liked by passengers and flight crews the A320 continues to be a good seller even today.

Well-liked by passengers?

As one that has flown many A320's as a passenger, include me out of that assessment.

[Moose4]

Yyyyyyyeeeah. The dollar vs. the euro made you guys make bad strategic decisions with the A350 and A380, and kept you from standardizing your CAD/CAM platforms across your plants in France and Germany. Got it. Riiiiiight.

}:-)4

[lowbuck]

So true, in America my wife and I would easily be in the top 5% (or better of the highest earners. In Germany we are, however, easily in the top 5% of taxpayers!! Sad, but true.

[bert]

"Scout families".....

We corresponded with a Boy Scout leader in Workington and invited him, his troop and all their families to come visit. The Scout reference is to Boy scouts, not Scotts.

Workington in Cumbria is getting near, but not quite Scottland.

[OSHA]

When did the dollar "collapse"? Was it when the Euro was issued at $1.20? Or today, when it was worth $1.256?

The problem is not the Euro. It's the Euroweenies!

[Toddsterpatriot]

I agree!

[CFC__VRWC]

We need to revise the old "four envelopes" joke about the CEO under fire, where the outgoing CEO advises the new guy to open an envelope every time there's a crisis. The notes in the envelopes go something like;

1. Blame your predecessor.
2. Blame your staff.
3. Blame the software
4. Prepare four envelopes....

From here on out, the fourth envelope should say;

"Blame George Bush and the Americans."

[lowbuck]

The Euro was initially floated at about 1.14 to 1.17 to the dollar. The Euros were very sad to see it go south and settle in the high .80's IIRC.

Then a strange thing happened (don't believe me go look at a foreign chart) just after Old Europe stiffed George Bush in the run up to the Iraq war. It seams the dollar weakened significantly and the US has been booming since. So the Euros got the strong Euro they wanted, but, at a stiff price.

Now I don't own a tinfoil hat, but if I did, and I was looking at the above mentioned chart, I would have to say someone is getting whipped for being naughty!!

[Brilliant]

It's not due to a weak dollar. It's due to a strong euro.


Them's the downside of having a monetary policy that is primarily geared toward supporting your currency rather than supporting your economy.

[traviskicks]

airbus will fail cuz it is under political control and governments can't run businesses.

[poobear]

Thank you, and it is quite refreshing to know the Scouts are doing well overseas. I'm raising a girl you see and she is into dance. She didn't like the girl scout outfits ;D! "Quite so and indubitably."