Airbus today announced another delay in deliveries of the A380, risking new financial penalties from disappointed airlines as it struggles to increase production of the world’s largest passenger jet. The company, already dealing with two years of delays, said delivery dates of the double-decker, 555-seat plane would be postponed by three months through 2010.The news came as no surprise to a market jaded by overambitious promises from manufacturers. Both Airbus and Boeing have made pledges for the delivery of new aircraft that they have been unable to keep. Boeing has pushed back the date three times for the first deliveries of its 787. The delays may hurt Airbus and Boeing by discouraging airlines from becoming early customers for new aircraft even with standard discounts.Airbus chief executive Thomas O Enders said during a conference call that it was unable to increase production of the A380 as quickly as it had expected. “We can’t go for production at the full rate of increase that we had hoped for originally,” Enders said. “Airbus plans now for 12 instead of 13 deliveries in 2008 and 21 instead of 25 next year.”He said the company was talking to customers about its delivery plans for 2010, when 45 of the A380 jets are due to be handed over. So far, Airbus has delivered four planes. But Enders denied that the latest new delay meant that Airbus was “endemically unreliable” and maintained that the latest setback, coming after the failure to sell some of its factories, was “not a catastrophe scenario.” “This is unfortunately not the first delay,” he said, “and as CEO of Airbus I have to say I regret this very much.”Airbus executive vice-president for programs Tom Williams said difficulties in switching over from individual to automated production had caused a two-and-a-half to three-month delay. The delivery slowdown will hurt airlines seeking to get the most efficient aircraft onto their flight schedules at a time of rising fuel prices.
