Airbus’s fall from grace has been swift and painful. While the national rivalries continue between the Franco-German shareholders of EADS, the Airbus parent company, the road to recovery for Europe’s flagship aircraft maker looks long and difficult.
The group is expected to unveil a crop of new aircraft orders and commitments at this week’s Paris airshow, led by urgently needed orders for the new A350XWB family of long-range, medium-capacity jets. But the announcements will hardly disguise the continuing turmoil and the scale of the challenge facing the group as it seeks to restructure and regain its competitiveness against Boeing, its arch US rival.
