Airbus Replaces Head of A380 After Maiden Flight

Monday proved to be the D-Day for Charles Champion, executive in charge of Airbus’ flagship A380 programme, in more than one way. His baby, the A380 super jumbo jet, the world's largest airliner took off from Toulouse airport on its maiden journey. Ironically, the French project manager Charles Champion got the pink slip from Chief executive Christian Strieff the same day.

Airbus said Champion had been replaced by Mario Heinen, a 50-year-old proven expert in production. Heinen until now has been in charge of the European plane maker’s chief cash engine, its single-aisle range of A320-family jets.

Charles is the third official to lose his post over the A380 debacle. Insiders point out that Charles lost his job as he failed to inform the Airbus board on time of the superjumbo's mounting technical difficulties. He allowed severe production bottlenecks to continue unchecked for months and was not able to fix them immediately.

It may be recalled that technical delays had hampered the delivery of the new Airbus A380. These problems have put back the deliveries by a year and provoked a €2bn (£1.35bn) dent in on earnings over the next three years. The A380, the world's largest airliner, is due to be delivered to its first customer Singapore Airlines by the end of 2006, 12 months behind schedule.

Boeing and Airbus compete with each other and vie for market share of large commercial jets. While Boeing was in the sludge earlier this decade enmeshed in sex and bribery scandals, Airbus has been complacent in understanding the complexity of the superjumbo and has been found basking in its market-lead over Boeing.