Struggling European aircraft maker Airbus is now looking at brighter skies thanks to rapid strides in the application of a restructuring plan and a possible new order for its A350, the head of the company said.
"Since the beginning of the year we have seen quick wins on Power8," Airbus chief executive Louis Gallois said of a plan announced February 28 in the face of damaging delivery delays to the Airbus A380 superjumbo program.
"Two years ago Airbus was at its peak, we were the best in the world, we were beating Boeing.
"Today we have the A380 behind us, we have the (weak) dollar issue and Boeing has recovered," Gallois told journalists late Monday at Airbus headquarters at Toulouse, southern France.
But Gallois stressed: "We are on the way to recover, with our new organisation, the launch of the (long-haul) A350, the perspective of delivering the A380 to Singapore Airlines and the first concrete savings of Power8."
Power8 calls notably for the elimination of 10,000 jobs in France, Germany, Britain and Spain over the next four years.
The scheme was unveiled in response to delays averaging two years in the delivery to clients of the A380, the world's largest airliner and a key component of Airbus's growth strategy.
The setbacks saddled Airbus with its first-ever operating loss last year and slashed net profit at Airbus parent group EADS to 99 million euros (133 million dollars) from 1.676 billion in 2005.
Employees and management in France are to hold their first meeting to discuss the plan, which has already sparked strikes by thousands of Airbus workers across Europe, at company headquarters on Wednesday.
Similar talks have yet to be held in Germany but are to get underway at some unspecified time this month, according to Airbus. Consultations have already taken place at sites in Spain and Britain.
"The application of the (Power8) measures will not start until the national consultations have been completed," an Airbus source said last week.
Brokers and analysts have voiced scepticism about how the plan will be carried through in the face of fierce union opposition.
Gallois on Monday said Airbus could receive a new order later this month, ahead of an airshow at Le Bourget near Paris June 18-24, for its long-haul A350 aircraft.
He described a company goal of 200 firm orders for the A350 between now and the end of the year as "very realistic."
Airbus currently has 13 firm orders for the aircraft and 142 commitments to buy, but the plane is not scheduled to enter service until 2013, five years after its competitor, the Boeing 787, for which the US group has already received 584 orders.
Qatar Airways, which last week said it would buy 80 A350s, could announce firm orders for the aircraft at Le Bourget.
Gallois also predicted that the larger A380 could attract orders in Japan and from British Airways.
In Japan Tuesday a senior Airbus official said he was confident of winning Japanese customers for the A380, as the superjumbo took to the skies above Tokyo with senior officials from Japanese carriers and the government on board for a demonstration flight.
"It was very positive. I am sure that we are going to succeed in selling this plane in Japan," said Richard Carcaillet, marketing director for the A380, adding that the A380 was "made for Japan."
But he added it was impossible to say when Airbus would land its first order in Japan, where he said "things take a very long time."
Neither Japan Airlines (JAL) nor All Nippon Airways (ANA) has yet expressed any interest in the A380.
The carriers, both loyal Boeing customers, have increasingly bought smaller planes for shorter flights, particularly for routes to China.
