February 24, 2007
YOU CAN'T FIRE US, WE QUIT!:
Cargo A380 may be ditched: UPS pact 'a recipe for cancellation' (MARY SCHLANGENSTEIN, 2/24/07, BLOOMBERG NEWS)
United Parcel Service Inc., the world's largest package shipper, and plane maker Airbus said Friday that they have agreed that either company can cancel an order this year for 10 A380 freighters after repeated production delays.UPS will decide whether to retain the $2.8 billion order after getting new delivery dates from Airbus, UPS spokesman Mark Giuffre said in an interview. The companies declined to provide details of the accord.
Airbus' ability to void the order heightens chances that the manufacturer may scrap the troubled cargo version of the world's largest commercial jet amid cost overruns and customer cancellations. Atlanta-based UPS is now the only buyer for the A380 freighter.
"Two out of three customers cancel or convert orders, not a lot of market demand, engineers needed elsewhere. That's a recipe for cancellation," said Richard Aboulafia, vice president of Teal Group, a Fairfax, Va.-based aerospace consulting firm.
The subhead might better have used the term rotten than ripe. Posted by Orrin Judd at February 24, 2007 9:32 PM
Without trying to defend the white whale, it is much easier for compaines like UPS and FedEx to find alternatives to carry cargo than it is for airlines (particularly in Asia) to re-design their fleets on short notice.
The A380 may not make it, but the proof will be seen from the Asian carriers, not from UPS.
Posted by: jim hamlen at February 24, 2007 11:30 PMYes, state airlines and states that needn't get permission from a voting public to land the thing may still go ahead. That's the point.
Posted by: oj at February 25, 2007 7:15 AM