As it is finalising its A350 XWB project, Airbus pays close attention to Boeing’s mistakes with its 787 Dreamliner.

The US magazine says “sometimes it pays to be in second place”. In the past four years, Airbus has witnessed the 787’s commercial success –nearly 900 orders- while its own plans to design a rival plane stumbled. But, adds the magazine, Boeing’s announcement this month that the 787 schedule would be delayed for a third time could be seen as “a blessing” for Airbus, whose A350 plane is not due to enter service until 2013. “We are obviously keeping a close eye on the problems Boeing is having”, Airbus CEO Thomas Enders is cited as saying. Indeed, argues BusinessWeek, the plane maker cannot afford “to get this plane wrong”. The A350 has won 371 orders so far. Airbus plans to outsource production of substantial sections of the new plane to foreign suppliers, but this is what took Boeing into trouble. The latter entrusted 70 % of its 787’s construction to suppliers, but some of them could not keep pace with the task. Like the 787, the A350 will be made at 50 % of composites and roughly half of its production will be outsourced, probably to the same suppliers as Boeing’s. Hence, to avoid similar glitches, Airbus has given contractors –for instance Honeywell or Thales- a greater role in designing the aircraft and more time to identify potential production issues, as assembly of the A350 should not start until 2011. Airbus has also taken steps to streamline its tiersupplier network, cutting the number of contractors from roughly 250 on its other programmes to about 70 on the A350. BusinessWeek (28/04)