Airbus’s commercial future is bright, writes Prof.

Airbus’s commercial future is bright, writes Prof. Philip Lawrence, Director of the Aerospace Research Centre in Bristol, in a letter to Financial Times. Airbus has been paying the price of earlier management mistakes on its A380 programme. But it is putting those errors right, even if this implies cultural stresses and strains within the company. According to Prof. Lawrence, bringing thousands of German workers to the Toulouse line was a necessary step, though the move has caused tensions with the French. He recalls that Boeing went through the same “enormous and daunting challenges” a decade ago, when it had to close down the 747 line, introducing radically different ways of working while hugely ramping up production at the same time. Prof. Lawrence asserts that Airbus’s investors and employees have a lot to gain if the new measures are successful -and if programmes can be managed in an “efficient and timely” manner. Financial Times