December 16, 2006
THEY'LL BE ASSEMBLING THOSE AIRBUSES IN HAITI SOON:
EADS executives seek to drop government shareholders (David Robertson, 12/16/06, The Times)
Senior executives of EADS, Europe’s largest defence and aerospace group, want to get rid of their government shareholders, claiming that political influence is hindering attempts to win business in the United States, The Times has learnt.
The bigger problem is that the involvemet of governments makes it a jobs porogram rather than a business. Posted by Orrin Judd at December 16, 2006 9:19 AM
Point 1 - who (or what) would replace them? Carrafour? Mercedes? BMW? Credit Lyonnais?
Point 2 - some airlines are happy with their Airbus planes, so these guys must be talking about business with the Pentagon. And with the Russians getting deeper into EADS, that is a non-starter, no matter what any President wants to do. Airbus probably won't even be able to sell a 'ceremonial' goodwill plane to carry around talking heads and service chiefs. Perhaps they could sell a few to the CIA for use in Europe. :>)
Point 3 - There isn't a quid pro quo to be offered anymore. The Euros aren't going to buy enough American defense equipment (fighters, tanks, even pedestrian stuff) to balance any potential deal with Airbus. And the US isn't going to outsource any NASA work, now is it?
Posted by: jim hamlen at December 16, 2006 12:27 PM