Germany's industry minister responsible for civil aviation visited Le Bourget yesterday to calm the storm whipped up by Aerospatiale's president earlier this month.
Dr Gunter Rexrodt, addressing reporters following a meeting of the industry ministers from all four countries with Airbus management, said the meeting "…had dispelled the irritation that arose" as a result of statements by Aerospatiale president Yves Michot.
Michot had said earlier that the four partners of the Airbus Industrie consortium had agreed on a restructuring framework for the company, a claim denied by germany and the UK.
Michot said the re-organised Airbus would leave the production assets essentially in the hands of the four individual partner companies - Aerospatiale, British |Aerospace, CASA and Daimler Benz Aerospace.
Germany and the UK want management of Airbus to transfer to a single, centralised management team so that it can compete effectively with Boeing. Rexrodt seems now to have restored the status quo.
Chaired
The meeting was chaired by Jean-Claude Gayssot, French minister for equipment, transport and housing, and was also attended by the UK's Margaret Beckett and Spain's Josep Pique Camp.
Through Rexrodt, they made it clear that they "…welcomed" progress towards the creation of Airbus as a single corporate entity and they shared the determination of industry to reach a satisfactory agreement within the lines of an industry memorandum od understanding (MoU) signed at the beginning of this year.
They also welcomed "important progress" alreadt achieved in reducing cost and production lead times.
The MoU calls for Airbus to become a single European aerospace and defence company.
The ministers were given a detailed presentation on Airbus products and alliance strategies, including progress reports on the A340-600, the planned 100-seater jet, and the A3XX very large aircraft.
Source: Flight Daily News