From flop to high-flier: Airbus celebrates 40th anniversary (Feature)

By Ralf Krueger Dec 17, 2010, 12:06 GMT

Paris - Mockery, pity, hostility: When the Airbus consortium was founded on December 18, 1970, the European dream of aircraft- building met with derision and the shaking of heads.

But 40 years on, despite occasional political rifts and problems, the company has become a synonym for successful European cooperation.

It all began shortly before Christmas 1970, when France and Germany put forward a proposal that was immediately mocked by Americans as an outlandish idea that would literally never get off the ground.

After the bloody debacle of World War II the Airbus consortium was intended to assure European access to modern aircraft-building. Today the ugly duckling has become a proud swan, one whose elegant planes have made their mark on the world aviation market.

But at the beginning, despite an soaring dreams and visions, progress was hampered by a lack of money, experience and trust between the European partners.

'It was a mammoth task just to reconcile all the different individual interests,' says Barbara Kracht, a spokeswoman for Airbus' defence contracting branch.

As head of production her father Felix Kracht was at Airbus right from the beginning. He built up the industrial cooperation between the countries involved, a political balancing act. The multinational consortium had production sites in France, Germany, Britain and Spain.

Visionaries like Kracht and his French colleague Roger Beteille set the company's course, viewed by its critics as a waste of billions.

Airbus' attempt to break US dominance of the airplane market with its first offering, the A300B, was an undignified flop. German weekly Der Spiegel described it as a 'podgy provincial jumbo.' And worse than the mockery was its failure on the market.

The twin jet A300 became a shelfwarmer - during a 14-month period between 1975 and 1976 only one buyer was found for Europe's effort.

Today, after deliveries of more than 6,450 aircraft, orders are already approaching the 10,000 mark.

But back then it was difficult for German politician, amateur pilot and head of Airbus board of directors Franz-Josef Strauss to find financial backing for Europe's big adventure.

The breakthrough came when Airbus gained access to the US market. After that Airbus went from success to success.

Today's golden goose, the A320, which was at first rejected by the consortium's German partners, set new industry standards.

The plane introduced the digital age into the cockpit - against which traditionalists fought fiercely.

The two-man cockpit, with its screen and side-stick, did away with the control column of the propeller era. Gone were the 'watch shops' with their countless gauges and display units covering the walls and ceiling, to be replaced by a modern control panel with screens.

But the giant A380 pushed European production capacities to their limits. Delays in its delivery, along with the high-tech A350 and the A400M military transporter, have brought the company into financial difficulties.

Unsurprisingly the company has shied away from bringing out a successor to the A320. Instead it is being updated once more.

Another potential threat to Airbus' success is that posed by developing countries such as China, Brazil and Russia, which are already pushing their way into a world market still dominated by Airbus and Boeing.

And they are finding themselves in a position which Airbus once new well - that of David versus Goliath.

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