China's - Orient Aviation

COVER STORYFrom a desk, two chairs anda telephone ... to a ‘cathedral’Airbus vice-president productpolicy, Philippe Jarry (right),reflects on the humblebeginnings of what was tobecome the A380By Charles AndersonPhilippe Jarry knows better thanmost how far Airbus, and theA380, has come in the yearstaken for an idea on a drawingboard to become a reality inthe skies.Singapore Airlines’ first giant jumbo, thefirst A380 to go into commercial service, isthe product of a mammoth cooperativeexercise linking six industrial sites acrossEurope, brought together in a 125,000 sq.metre final assembly hall built on a 230hectare greenfield site in Toulouse.Former Airbus chief executive, NoëlForgeard, described it as a “cathedral”.The sheer size and scale of the buildingcurrently equipped with four giant assemblybays, but capable of taking eight, is simplybreathtaking.It’s in keeping with the scale of today’sAirbus. Despite recent dramas, the companyitself is a giant in its own right, now closeto par with Boeing on orders and deliveries.But it hasn’t always been that way. Elevenyears ago, when Jarry joined the small teamcharged with assessing the developmentneeds of what was then the A3XX, hissurroundings were more modest. “We wereall located in a small building at the end of therunway,” he said. “The grass around it wasnot cut. It was awful. I just had a desk, twochairs, a telephone, no secretary and emptycupboards.” Airbus sales and deliveries wereless than half its main U.S. rival’s that year.Jarry had moved from head of marketingat Airbus to become vice-president, marketdevelopment, at the company’s newly-formedlarge aircraft division, led by engineeringexecutive, Jurgen Thomas. Their job wasto find out what airlines wanted and howfeasible such a project actually was.Airbus, in fact, had started considering itsown giant passenger aircraft in the late 1980sas the company grew from its roots as a losecollaboration of European manufacturersinto a cohesive entity.An unlikely cooperative study with fiercerivals Boeing into the market potential of anaircraft significantly larger than the B747 inthe mid-Nineties ended in agreement thatthere was need for such an aircraft. Wherethe two companies differed was on demand.Boeing felt there was not a big enough marketfor both manufacturers to compete and theywithdrew their interest.Airbus had a full product range on itsbooks – but with one exception, it felt … thebig plane. It took up the challenge.“Above the A340 was the B747, thequeen of the sky,” said Thomas. “Why notsomething bigger and better than the 747?This is how the story started.”John Leahy, now chief operatingofficer, customers, joined Airbus in 1985.“It wasn’t until[the company]had built up themarket positionand a full lineof inter-relatedproducts withthe fly-by-wiretechnology– and developeda st rongm a rket base– that we hadA380 quotesthe wherewithal and the market acceptanceto actually challenge the 747,” he said.Jean Pierson, Airbus chief executive atthe time A3XX studies were put on a warfooting, was also convinced the gap neededfilling. “The main idea was to have at least acomprehensive product line, with somethingto answer each segment of the market,” hesaid. “This was our thinking, a vision wehad to go with.”The aircraft, as yet unnamed, quicklytook shape. By 1998, wingspan, fuselageand other major dimensions of a 550-seater,double-deck airplane capable of fittinginto the 80 metre box required by mostairports had been frozen. Meanwhile, Jarrywas talking to airlines around the world, aprecursor to the many focus groups that wereto follow through which final requirementswere ironed out.“Two wanted a combi. Other airlinesdidn’t want to hear about a combi. Somewanted a freighter variant. Some wanteda passenger variant with extreme range.Everyone wanted to have his own variantfirst,” he said.T he ai rcraf t t hat emerged is atechnological marvel. It makes extensiveuse of carbon composites and advancedmetallic materials. It includes weight-savinghydraulic systems, superior separation offlight control systems, laser beam weldingrather than rivets in some areas, re-designedair generation methods and enough realestate over two decks to please any carrierlooking to produce a high-end product.“These things didn’t come overnight. It‘I am convinced that 550 seats isthe biggest aircraft you should doin a conventional configuration.Something bigger doesn’t makesense from the laws of pure physics’Jurgen ThomasFormer Senior Vice-PresidentLarge Aircraft Division24 ORIENT AVIATION NOVEMBER 2007