Can the Airbus A400M Be Saved?

[tigershark]

Can the Airbus A400M Be Saved?
By Hasnain Kazim and Anne Seith

Enthusiasm is waning for the oft-delayed and over-budget military transport plane A400M, currently under development by Airbus. Not only is the German Defense Ministry reconsidering its orders, but even Airbus CEO Thomas Enders has begun voicing his doubts.

When the subject of the military transport plane A400M comes up, the reaction from Airbus CEO Thomas Enders is less than enthusiastic. "We want to build the plane," he told SPIEGEL ONLINE at the just-ended World Economic Forum in Davos. "But not at any price."

It is a comment that could be interpreted as a change in direction. Until now, Airbus and its parent company EADS have consistently denied rumors that the project was in danger of being mothballed. But the gigantic plane has long been plagued by equally gigantic problems, leading to exploding costs, frayed nerves and incessant delays. The tune now, as Enders is whistling it, is that Airbus needs to see that the project can still be successful.
t's not just Airbus itself that is losing passion for the project. Patience is likewise wearing thin at Germany's Defense Ministry, which has ordered 60 of the jumbos. The ministry, headed up by Franz-Josef Jung, refuses to comment on the record. But a high-ranking air force officer told SPIEGEL ONLINE that "the way Airbus is dealing with the problem has generated little enthusiasm in the Defense Ministry."

The "problem" mentioned by the officer is an ongoing series of difficulties that awakens memories of the delay-plagued introduction of the passenger jumbo A380. The first A380 was finally delivered to Singapore Airlines in October 2007 after extensive difficulties with the planes wiring and other problems. The company lost billions of euros in earnings as a result.

The same fate seems to have befallen the A400M. There are troubles with the software that controls the planes engines. The steering mechanism has proven challenging. The propeller engines are too loud. And the entire thing is too heavy, as Enders himself admits, before adding that excess weight is a common challenge for new plane models. According to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the plane has to shave off fully 12 tons.

Source and full article
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,605262,00.html