A380: the countdown is on - Orient Aviation

<strong>A380</strong> ASSEMBLY
were very much driven by national partners.
It was instrumental to have a single
command. It was best for <strong>the</strong> aircraft,” said
Thomas.
Jarry joined Thomas’s A3XX team in
early 1996, tasked with assessing <strong>the</strong> market
and talking to airlines about bringing in
<strong>the</strong>ir expert<strong>is</strong>e at <strong>the</strong> development stage.
As head of Airbus marketing, he had had
180 engineers working for him. H<strong>is</strong> new
surroundings were not impressive.
“We were all located in a small building
at <strong>the</strong> end of <strong>the</strong> [Toulouse] runway. The
grass around it was not cut.
It was awful. I just had a
desk, two chairs, a telephone,
no secretary and empty
cupboards. I thought ‘that’s a
good start’.”
Four hectic years later,
with a much better office and
a full team, Jarry was able
to celebrate <strong>the</strong> launch of <strong>the</strong>
<strong>A380</strong> programme, before
moving on to a new post
as vice-president, product
evaluation.
The Frenchman, who
joined Airbus from CFM
International in 1981 where
he was sales manager, had
seen such contrasts in fortune
before.
“At that time [<strong>the</strong> early
80s] we only had one airplane
type – <strong>the</strong> A300. We were
developing, and later selling,
<strong>the</strong> A310s. We were excluded by most
airline companies. We had no big plane,
no small plane, no long-range, no freighter.
Just a medium plane,” he said.
Jarry was told around that time that if
he sold three planes by <strong>the</strong> end of <strong>the</strong> year,
Airbus could keep up its production rate of
1.5 a month.
“We had a big party when we sold three
to Cyprus,” he said. “Now one a day <strong>is</strong>
produced. It will be more next year. Three
doesn’t matter. That gets us through to
Thursday.”
He talks matter-of-factly about <strong>the</strong>
contrasts with 20 years ago. “There has
been a complete change. As sales director
for Airbus, some managing directors
would not see me in <strong>the</strong>ir office. Only in <strong>the</strong>
corridor. I wasn’t allowed in.
“There are not many airlines now that
can start fleet planning and keep Airbus out
of <strong>the</strong> loop. It would look really suspicious.
The world has changed completely.”
John Leahy <strong>is</strong> ano<strong>the</strong>r Airbus leader
who can recall tougher times. As a new
sales and marketing executive for Airbus’s
U.S. operation in 1985 he had to counter h<strong>is</strong>
own staff’s view of how business was going,
even after clinching an important sale to
Pan American World Airways.
“We had a black tie function at <strong>the</strong>
Museum of Modern Art in New York.
We invited Pan Am executives. We had a
little orchestra, cocktail reception and sitdown
dinner to celebrate <strong>the</strong> signing of
The first <strong>A380</strong> test plane <strong>is</strong> towed to Station 30 for fur<strong>the</strong>r work on its systems
<strong>the</strong> purchase agreement,” said <strong>the</strong> current
Airbus chief commercial officer and
customer affairs head.
“We spent a bit of money. We had a staff
meeting <strong>the</strong> following Monday and <strong>the</strong> PR
girl said: ‘I’ve not only spent <strong>the</strong> budget for
all of th<strong>is</strong> year, but I think I’ve even spent
half of next year’s budget’.
“I said: ‘That’s awful. We are only
halfway through <strong>the</strong> year. What are we
supposed to do?’ She said: ‘Well John,
you’ve only been here six months. But I’ve
been here about six years. Don’t worry,
it’s going to be about three or four years
before we sell ano<strong>the</strong>r airplane over here
anyway’.”
Now Airbus has delivered more than
3,700 aircraft to some 197 customers worldwide,
and has a delivery backlog of almost
1,400, which will take five years to fill at current
production rates. About 43% of its total
orders have come from North America, no
18 ORIENT AVIATION / <strong>A380</strong> Quarterly Update DECEMBER 2004-FEBRUARY 2005
doubt to John Leahy’s sat<strong>is</strong>faction.
Over 30 years its fleet has clocked up
some 72 million flight hours and an Airbus
takes off or lands now somewhere in <strong>the</strong>
world every four seconds.
Some 50,000 employees work ei<strong>the</strong>r for
Airbus or its wholly-owned subsidiaries
worldwide.
Philippe Jarry, for one, refuses to be
complacent. Boeing continues to cast its
shadow from far away Seattle and he <strong>is</strong> not
one to ignore that.
H<strong>is</strong> office wall boasts a colourful poster
of Boeing’s new 7E7. It has taken <strong>the</strong> place
of <strong>the</strong> proposed Stratocru<strong>is</strong>er <strong>the</strong> American
company dropped in favour of <strong>the</strong> slower,
but more fuel efficient Dreamliner,
Boeing’s new weapon in <strong>the</strong> continuing
fight for aircraft sales.
“The big danger <strong>is</strong> complacency,” said
Jarry. “We should always imagine <strong>the</strong>re <strong>is</strong>
a Boeing plane in front of us. As long as we
do th<strong>is</strong>, we can be first.”
Where <strong>the</strong> Airbus orders
have come from
North America : 43%
Europe : 27%
Asia-Pacific : 18%
Middle East : 6%
Latin America : 4%
Africa : 2%