Although Louis Gallois is known for his skills in dealing with union leaders and his ability to keep the lines of communication open, there is no guarantee that he will be able to save Airbus this time around.

One thing is certain however, the Airbus crisis is now part and parcel of the presidential campaign and is responsible for divisive splits between workers, trade unions and politicians.

The French press reported massively on the Power8 restructuring plan, commenting on the key figures: a 10 000-job cut in Europe including 4,300 in France, and 3 Airbus plants in France to be sold with savings of €2 billion by 2010. The media also mentioned the Franco-German rivalry which has been exacerbated by political meddling in the company's management. Over and above the shock and concern, the media stressed the inevitability of the plan and pointed out the company's strengths and weaknesses. The two major private stakeholders, Lagardere and DaimlerChrysler, were often held responsible for the crisis because of their demands for higher rates of profit.

The very real need to "rethink" the work model and the way Airbus has been run up to now was, however, never put into question. "The problems that are slowly consuming Airbus are well-known: sky-rocketing costs, a failing industrial organisation and too much job-lotting." (Le Figaro, 20/02). The press went on to report that Boeing, the main winner in the Airbus crisis, had now completed its industrial restructuring.

The concerns expressed by the workers, the trade unions and subcontractors as well as various calls to strike both in France and Germany were reported on in the press. And speeches given by Mr. Chirac and Mrs. Merkel at the last Franco-German summit, advocating fair treatment in both countries, were commented on by the media. But the need to revise the initial plan has kept national feelings at an all-time high. The French feel that Germany defended its job market better than France did. The three main presidential candidates met with the union leaders and the resulting solutions each one offered were picked up by the press. The Airbus file is a sensitive one and far from being over as the unions are calling for a European strike mid-March.


This analysis by Echo Research was based on 138 articles from the national daily French press from
1 February to 5 March 2007. http://www.echoresearch.com/fr/