Expected announcement of new cost-saving measures at Airbus

According to Aujourd’hui en France, the expected announcement of new cost-saving measures at Airbus might revive tensions between the French and German camps. In a harsh report, Airbus managers had already denounced the Germans’ stronghold on EADS’s management as well as the fact Power 8 had preserved thousands of jobs on the other side of the Rhine. But Aujourd’hui en France obtained another document that might refuel the dispute: a note written by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) of Toulouse and given to French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde. In this confidential note, the CCI accuses EADS’s German executives of “aborting” the sale of the Meaulte and Saint- Nazaire sites to Latecoere on purpose, which will lead to the loss of “thousands of jobs in France”. Admitting that there were tensions “in the air”, Louis Gallois said in an interview with La Depeche du Midi that these “sterile debates” had to stop as they create a “hateful climate” within the group. Yet, he acknowledged that job cuts had been implemented faster in France, the UK and Spain than in Germany, where judicial procedures are longer. “This situation must be corrected and clearly cannot be accepted in the long term”. AFP (23/05), Aujourd’hui en France, La Depeche du Midi (23/05)