Airbus Delays Restructuring

Pan-European aircraft manufacturer Airbus said Monday an announcement of its restructuring plan has been postponed to an undetermined date.

The company postponed the unveiling of its Power 8 turnaround strategy, scheduled for Tuesday, after French and German shareholders in parent company European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. were at loggerheads over where to build the A350 extra-wide body aircraft — a plan intended to compete against Boeing Co.’s midsize 787.

Airbus Chief Executive Louis Gallois said he urgently hoped to find a solution that overcomes national issues, which are keeping the company from putting its restructuring strategy into place.

Airbus cannot delay any longer implementing Power 8, said Gallois, whose restructuring is expected to cut up to 10,000 jobs, or a fifth of Airbus’s workforce, with France and Germany contributing 3,000 to 4,000 of the job losses, France’s Les Echos business newspaper reported.

The company also plans to centralize assembly of the A350 in France, in exchange for building a new version of the single-aisle A320 airliner in Germany.