A380 Delay

A380 hit by fourth delay

Tuesday, 13 May 2008

I. Summary

The planemaker of Airbus announced that they are going to have delays in deliveries of its A380. Airbus Company had difficulty in producing its A380 on time. As a result, its customers are dissatisfied. This delay has impact on both Airbus and customers (Hepher, 2008).

II. Problem

Airbus was not able to produce as quickly as it hoped. Airbus was being ordered for 13 A380s in 2008 and 25 aircrafts in 2009. This was the fourth time that they announced delays for A380. These delays were caused by problems in installing the wiring on A380 (Wall, 2006).

III. Critical Factor

Due to the reason above, Airbus could delivers 12 aircrafts in 2008 and 21 in 2009 (Hepher, 2008). Logically it affects Airbus as a supplier and airlines as its customers. Airlines assumed that they receive their aircrafts on time. They wanted to make their flight with this new aircraft and now they can not. This would make them unhappy and as a result they complain about delays. Airbus might face further penalties for not being on time.

IV. Alternative Actions

To overcome this problem, airlines should look for a solution. First, they could do nothing and continue their process as it is. This can help them because at the end they will get their aircraft. Also, they don’t have to look for another aircraft company to buy again but by doing so they waste time. It has another disadvantage which is the cost. Because they have planed their schedule for these 525-seat double-decker planes and now they need more aircraft for this amount of passengers. And as we know, old aircrafts consume more fuel than new aircrafts like A380 which means again they are wasting their money.

On the other hand, Airbus can help to overcome this problem. It can increase its work forces. It means they can hire more people to work on the production of A380. As a result they can deliver aircrafts on time. By doing so, they avoid the...