The Impact of the A380 Project on the Financial Performance of EADS

Abstract: Airbus has been making headlines in the past few months for all the wrong reasons. This iconic European corporation has undergone a turbulent period due to the problems surrounding the Airbus A380 project. A new flagship product that should have curved out an unassailable advantage for Airbus over Boeing went completely wrong. The Airbus A380 aircraft was a ground breaking concept that was meant to push EADS into a unique market segment. Instead, it threatened the very existence of the company and served as a catalyst for major surgery and a complete reorganization of the corporation starting from the top management down to the production floors. Numerous studies have been undertaken that have documented details of the Airbus A380 project and what, how and why it all went wrong. The company and other stakeholders have been undertaking drastic steps to try and put the company back on track and ensure the survival of the commercial aircraft business unit. In this study we look at how the problems surrounding the Airbus A380 project have affected the financial health of EADS. The background to the problems and the financial performance of Airbus is studied and presented. A brief discussion of how the data we collected and used for the study and the data that we could not get access to is also presented early in the paper. From the data and analysis, a comparison of the two dominant players in the commercial aircraft manufacturing industry, Airbus and Boeing, is also undertaken. A brief highlight of the financial impact of a project in the computer/consumer electronics industry is also presented. Finally from these data and prior studies on this subject, we have tried to highlight the impact of the project on the short and long term financial direction of EADS.