Airbus 2010 annual press conference highlights

Airbus
-          finished 2009 with strong net cash position (EADS)
-          2010 will be a challenging year
-          more actions will be taken if needed
-          innovation is the key of our future success
-          2009 has been a very difficult year for the entire industry, particularly the airline industry
-          all the doom days & so-called expert have been proven completely wrong
-          we managed to deliver nearly 500 aircraft, 498 airplanes plus 16 aircraft in our military
-          it’s the first time we delivered over 400 single-aisle aircraft in a year
-          delivered 61 aircraft in December
-          received 85 orders in December
-          the year-end order race is very successful
-          we rescheduled 600 aircraft deliveries for 2009-2011 period
-          we cannot work miracle, but we can achieve a lot
-          we received 310 orders in 2009
-          we have not compromised pricing
-          Power8 better-than-planned results 2 billion dollars of savings
-          given the weak dollar environment, this is a very important achievement
-          we’re prepared to go down if we have to
-          stay flat essentially at this level
-          Power8 was set up for 1.75 EUR-USD exchange rate
-          order target is 250 and 300 for 2010, the order will come back in 2012
-          keep moving aircraft forward and back
-          we have fewer order cancellations in 2009 than 2008
-          credit rating of the order book has been improved by several steps
-          strong order book of 3,700 aircraft

A320
-          possible re-engining of the A320 to make it selling & flying well in the next decade
-          we have not yet decided, but we want to decide this year
-          we would prefer to have CFM & IAE as well

A350 XWB
-          the development process & sales success are outstanding
-          good progress we made on the A350
-          the A350 is 70% based in dollars today
-          2010 will be a decisive year for A350
-          more than 3000 engineers working on the program
-          we need further reinforcement, particularly the fuselage & wing
-          need strong resourcing throughout 2010 and beyond
-          we have some technical margin each and every step
-          we used some of it in 09 as we transitioned from architecture to production phase
-          we have produced 2 panels of wingbox for the first A350
-          close to weight target
-          transparency & declaration of problems, making sure we fix problems before we move to next step
-          very stretched & very challenging program
-          we believe we can make it
-          each & every year will be very crucial for the program
-          slight change in the design of A350-800 allows 3 tonnes larger payload
-          a couple of % higher on A350-800′s fuel burn than original target

A380
-          actual production cost significantly above expectation
-          ramp-up difficult to manage
-          we have a little bit of turmoil
-          we have not come to crisp entirely
-          over-complexity on the manufacturing, resulting in significant delays & cost overruns
-          to deliver at least 20 A380s by 2010
-          our customers love the plane
-          A380 will be a liability for several years to come
-          for airlines, the A380 will be profit & revenue generator
-          good return for years to come
-          we need significant improvement on the A380
-          we have used the month of December to review the A380
-          make sure when we send every section of sites, we have managed to check that electrical section that there will be a small amount of fix in Toulouse
-          second step is to integrate further
-          we have a strong effort underway to further improve the reliability & capability of the A380
-          we’re working hard to bring modifications
-          this effort is going on unabated

A400M
-          2nd A400M to fly this March
-          2010 will be a year to build up the A400M & MRTT
-          A330 MRTT successfully completed refueling tests
-          $100 to $150 million euros outflow of cash per month
-          the revamping & strengthening of the A400M
-          40,000 jobs created in Europe

USAF tanker
-          the current RFP isn’t a modernization program, but a replacement program
-          there is no assessment of any capability that exceeds the baseline requirement
-          we have an aircraft that is flying today
-          risk of development is lower
-          none of those issues were incorporated