Smarty pants kids that dream of becoming aircraft engineers probably have blueprints for flying machines running through their imaginations. However, lacking from their vivid schematics are the plans for in-flight bathrooms, lounges, and sleeper suites. Now that the Airbus A380 is flying around the globe, the airline experience has been so much more, but that’s not something the now grown-up engineers are pleased about.
All these additional customizations that companies like Singapore Airlines and Air France just had to have cause delays, order deferrals, and budgets to go right out the window. It seems that the more airlines want out of the plane, the longer it takes for Airbus to deliver the goods. That’s bad for both the airlines with orders and the airlines without, as it’s slowing down the whole delivery and sales process. Airbus wanted to ship 13 planes by the end of the year; so far they’ve only pushed seven birds out of the nest. ]]>