Kevin O'Toole/PARIS
AIRBUS INDUSTRIE has committed itself to becoming a fully fledged company by the end of the decade, with the partners promising that this will also be a catalyst for broader civil and military mergers within Europe.
No firm timescale has yet been set, but the partners promise to start "immediate negotiations" with the aim of drawing up a binding agreement by the end of the year. That could "feasibly" lead to the transformation of Airbus from a partnership consortium to a legally established company by 1999.
The timescale follows that predicted earlier this year as plans for the change began to gather pace (Flight International, 6-12 March).
The proposals follow the completion of a study into the issue, which was approved by the Airbus supervisory board on 8 July. The details will now have to be thrashed out in negotiations between the four industrial partners, Aerospatiale, Daimler-Benz Aerospace, British Aerospace and CASA.
The partners also state that the move will be a first step towards "much broader integration of the European aircraft industry" both military and civil. "This is not just window dressing," says Aerospatiale chairman Louis Gallois, promising a "wider look" at European integration in the wake of an Airbus merger.
The Airbus talks will have to address the issue of just how much of their own businesses are pooled within the new company. There is broad agreement that customer-support functions should be more clearly centralised as the Airbus fleet mushrooms. "The whole support function has to be in Airbus hands," says Gallois, adding that this was one of the key drivers behind the change in status.
Gallois adds that Airbus also needs a clearer grip on its manufacturing costs, now dispersed between partners and suppliers. "We have to improve the cost base and reduce lead times, which means we have to have some kind of integration," he says.
Early indications are that this will stop short of a wholesale merger of manufacturing plants.
Source: Flight International
