EADS co-chairman warns against strikes at Airbus

Mar 3, 2007, 8:55 GMT

Berlin - The co-chairman of EADS, the parent company of Airbus, warned the workforce Saturday against strike action but also acknowledged management failures, after the announcement this week that 10,000 jobs would go.

'We are very vulnerable in this regard,' Enders said in an interview with the German news magazine Focus.

Tom Enders pointed to full order books and fixed delivery dates at the European aircraft maker and said drawn-out strikes would damage the company and set it back even further,

The German head of EADS acknowledged that management had taken poor decisions over recent years, mentioning in particular the delays in the production of the A380 superjumbo.

Enders said there was no point in talking about the closure of plants. 'We are not going to destroy any plants. We are not firing anyone. We are changing direction,' he said.

The plants that Airbus intends to sell would be able to work for other companies, including Airbus' main rival, Boeing. The plants include St Nazaire in France and Varel and Laupheim in Germany.

Enders was critical of the management structure at EADS, where he shares the chairman's position with Frenchman Louis Gallois, but added that the main shareholders had decided on this structure.

And he said he would prefer an end to state stakeholders. The French state holds 15 per cent and the French company Lagardere a further 15.

Germany's DaimlerChrylser owns 30 per cent and the Spanish state company SEPI 5 per cent, while around a third of the shares are openly traded.