What is wrong with the BIG 'Bus?
 

Airbus stakeholder BAE Systems said the 555 seat A380 plane was being delayed by problems with systems developed for the world's largest airliner and that stakeholders were loath to press on with the mooted A350 until the bigger plane's problems were resolved.

Paris hosts the world's largest air show from Monday and the hefty A380 is expected to star.

But delays in it have prompted complaints from airlines and added urgency to calls for EADS, which owns 80 percent of Airbus, to sort out internal debates holding up appointment of its new co-chief executives.

"Some of the systems are not as they should be on the A380," BAE Chief Executive Mike Turner told a meeting of journalists late on Sunday.

He said sorting out those problems was key to moving forward with the mid-sized A350 given that Airbus engineers were already being stretched by the A380 as well as work on developing the A400M military transport plane.

"At the moment, we are committed to (ensuring) the reliability of the A380 and doing the A400M," said Turner.

Already Europe's biggest defense company and its top player in the US market, BAE is constantly asked if it might sell its 20 percent stake in commercial airliner maker Airbus, calls which have increased in light of the planemaker's recent trouble launching the A350 while rival Boeing stacks up orders for its new 787 model.

"If the day comes when we can get better value for our 20 percent stake, we'd sell it," Turner said.

He said the current spat between the United States and the European Union over aircraft development subsidies boiled down to two sides which do benefit from such state money, though he expressed surprise at the US stance on the topic: "I'm really surprised by how convinced they are that they are right."

(Reuters)

I heard it was problems with the wing box or spar, and the undercarridge. Also, as with most projects and women, Overweight.

Wing box and spar problems will be showing up first on the torture rig - way before they show up on the ship.

If that is the case, it is quite a headache at this stage.

Mr Boeing must be laughing his arse off! God Bless him

The A380's gonna drop the Airbus Consortium like a bout of Ebola.

Well, if a company's going to sell "disposable" airplanes..... maybe they should get into "Huggies" as well...... both seem to be full of sh*te.

I suspect this is all total twaddle. The A380 will meet its problems, just like every new airframe/engine combination new development, and just as the 747 did. Looking back, look how the 747 encountered massive problems once in service. It drove Boeing to the brink of insolvency. It's also been the biggest moneyspinner in aviation history. Why should the 380 be any different? It will be overweight, it will overrun its budget horribly, there will be big problems once in service, but let's not forget that it will earn a massive amount of money eventually! Problems do not mean Airbus/EADS being driven under!

It's funny, if Boeing is so convinced the future is in medium haul, point to point traffic, why are they talking about a Super 747? A market that is supposed to be 'not there'? Just watch this space (the giant people mover one)! It's going to be a long term success for the next 50 years. And I'm afraid a current 40 year old design and airframe is not going to cut the mustard for the next 40 years!

If you could buy shares in this outfit, now is the time to do it!

I agree with Rainboe and take delight in the fact that all those who deride the A380 (mailnly 747 pilots with a streak of something in their bloodstreams it seems) will soon be flying the second biggest commercial airliner and who ever wants to be second? The problems with the A380 are no more or less than those of all aircraft developed over the last 50 years.
If you fly a Jumbo, get used to the idea that you have a last been overtaken. It's a little like Ferrari in F1. Top dog for a long time and along comes a newcomer/outsider and, oh what a surprise! Not even second any more! At least you Boeing fans have the comfort of knowing that you can't be lower than second!

With the amount of plastic Boeing is gonna put into the 787 - maybe you should bite your lip?

pot - kettle - black!!

It's funny, if Airbus is so convinced the future is in long haul, hub to hub traffic, why are they talking about an A350?

Works both ways. Same sh!t, different company name. The sooner all you Boeing v Airbus guys realise this the better. The sooner they merge the better!

It's starting to shape up like a BIG BUST. :E

There you go with your porn again. :rolleyes:

Rubik......I am a 747 pilot , albeit recently retired, but flying again soon. I love the 747, but I cannot understand the people who want to deride an undoubtedly superb piece of engineering because of some minor technical development problems. Whatever it takes will get done.

<Whatver it takes will get done>

But for Gawd's sake, don't ask for help from the Eurofighter team -it'll be ready in 2020.

I find it a real shame that many people out there, and I'm certainly not pointing fingers at anyone on this thread, are almost willing the A380 to fail.

I think that the project is a brave move which can only improve the aviation industry in the long-term. Yes its a gutsy move but I'm sure the same was thought of many years ago when Boeing unveiled the 747 and see what a great workhorse that has been.

All the very best Airbus and lets hope one success story emerges from a european union ('cause god only knows the political one is a farse of even bigger proportions than anything that industry can produce).

Its always the same....there will always be morons such as kato747 who worship Boeing, forgetting the issues they suffered like DC-10 cargo doors blowing out mid flight!!

The A380 is an incredible feat of engineering, and despite all the 'ugly' remarks it gets I think it has the most incredible wing/engine combination I have ever seen. Its incredible.

I am certainly not anti-boeing, but I hate this anti airbus thing that is going on with Boeing and its fans. Grow up!!
The 380 won't fail......we built the concorde over here, and don't you forget it!! We have the engineers, you have the mechanics!:cool:

The news message from this topicstart was a little old, wasn't it? The Paris air show had already finished when this was posted, and apparantly it has been quite a succesful week for Airbus.

Anyway, the A380-bashing is childish at best, not something one would expect on a forum for professional pilots. :rolleyes:

So, to provide a little balance to this "discussion", here's a story that shows what a truly remarkable aircraft this really is. I think that's the sort of stuff real aviation enthousiasts should talk about.

WindSheer, McDonnell Douglas did not join the Boeing fold until 1997, so perhaps a bit unfair to saddle Boeing with DC-10 cargo door problems!
:confused:

If Boeing can lay claim to the Phantom II and the MD8x/90 then they have to accept ownership of the issues associated with the DC10 as well, don't they?

If you think I'm joking about the first bit, you can't have visited their website recently.

Caslance, there are references to the aircraft you mention on the Boeing site, because they have integrated the "old" Boeing and MD sites. Certainly if you look at the informative f4 URL, you will see "proper" attribution to McDonnell Aircraft.

"we built the concorde over here"

I've heard of that plane before, is it that really fast French plane?


Cas
When you marry you take in the whole family. Doesn't mean your responsible for their antics before you married tho.