Airbus in tail spin... Tony Blair pumps money in .. french to strike

French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin spilled les haricots last week when he said Airbus planned to cut 10,000 jobs -- and he did it in Germany where most jobs were under threat.

Airbus parent company EADS confirmed 10,000 jobs are disappearing over 4 years as they sort out the mega jumbo A380 ( a year late) the direct effects of a weak dollar and possible resultant dip in travel. The A380 delays alone will hit profuts by Euros 4.8Bn this year alone.

3 sites are shutting .Saint-Nazaire-Ville in France and Varel and Laupheim in Germany, 3 other sites -- Meaulte in France, Nordenham in Germany and Filton in Britain -- are open to third parties (GKN) to participate.

A total of 4,300 jobs will be cut in France, (French already on strike - see pic) 3,700 in Germany, 1,600 in Britain and 400 in Spain.

In July 2006, Airbus announced (after many false starts) the development of a completely newtwin jet , the A350 XWB to compete head to head with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.Due for delivery commencing 2012, EADS is urgently reviewing whether the company has enough resources available for the development.

The military transport plane , the DDP /A400M , due to take over from the now antique Hercules has been designed to mee4t the needs of NATO. Airbus manager Christian Streiff has admitted that the plane is behind testing and wont meet delivery schedules planned to commence in 2009. - defence project behid schedule - there is a surprise.

Shares in parent firm EADS closed up on a heavy news day 1.8 % - investors wooed by claimed cuts of Euros 2.1 BN. in annual operating costs from 2010 and a further 5 billion cash.

In Parliament Tony Blair said "I understand Filton is set to secure manufacture of key wing components on the A350 and that will represent a valuable new capability in the UK," ... at what cost we will no doubt learn a long time in the futu