Mitchell Holman wrote:
"Jim Morris" wrote in
:


http://www.playfuls.com/news_09_3987...r-for-10-Airbu
s-A380-Freighters.html

Fearing Airbus will not be able to deliver before the new revised
deadline in 2012, United Parcel Service Inc., the world's largest
package shipper, has announced it will scrap their $2.8 billion order
for 10 SAS A380 freighters. As such, Airbus lost the last customer on
the freighter version of its superjumbo jet.

FedEx Corp. dropped its 10-aircraft order in November, and International
Lease Finance Corp., the world's largest plane lessor, switched its
order for five freighters to passenger versions of the A380 a month
later.

"UPS had intended to complete an internal study of whether it could wait
until 2012 for the aircraft, but now understands Airbus is diverting
employees from the A380 freighter program to work on the passenger
version of the plane," the shipping company said.

"Based on our previous discussions, we had felt that 2012 was a
reasonable estimate of when Airbus could supply this plane," David
Abney, UPS chief operating officer and president of UPS Airline, said in
a statement. "We no longer are confident that Airbus can adhere to that
schedule."

UPS is concerned that Airbus has shifted employees from the A380
freighter program to work on the passenger version of the plane, which
makes much more money. Airbus said on Thursday development of the A380F
freighter had been "temporarily cut off... so that all capacities can be
directed at the A380 passenger version".

"Airbus is disappointed that UPS intends to cancel the A380 freighter
order," said Justin Dubon, a spokesman for Airbus in Toulouse, France.
"We respect the airline's decision, and this is consistent with the
agreement we reached last week."

UPS ordered its first 10 A380 aircraft in January 2005 for use on
U.S.-Asia routes. The triple-decker freighter has 2.4 times the lift
capacity of a Boeing 747, a big advantage for long routes with limited
number of flights.

FedEx, after canceling its A380 order with Airbus in November, announced
it would purchase 15 U.S.-made Boeing 777 freighters with an option to
buy 15 more.

Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic, which has six A380's on order, said
it expects to decide within a month whether it will acquire new Airbus
or Boeing planes to help it deal with the delay. Virgin Atlantic will
receive, hopefully, their planes in 2013 if additional delays are not
announced.

Airbus sees the A380F, which has a range of 10,400 kilometers and is
capable of carrying 150 tons of freight, as a rival to Boeing's 777F.

I just wonder how much more the A380 cancellations are going to tear
into Airbus' bottom line. Maybe the 'worlds largest airliner' was not a
good idea or maybe the wrong climate. The employees and contractors and
suppliers the world over are going to be hit hard, again!


Remember the good old days when there were more
than two long haul airline builders in the world?

Why were they "good"?