Airbus today postponed a major announcement on job cuts planned for tomorrow, saying European nations could not agree how to share the work on the planemaker's next aircraft, the wide-body A350.
The surprise statement followed a stormy board meeting at parent EADS on Sunday evening at which the group failed to sign off on management's Power8 restructuring plans, seen as crucial to the future of Airbus, a source close to the matter said.
It also exposed continued tensions between the four countries where Airbus plants are based -- Britain, France, Germany and Spain -- as the planemaker's chief Louis Gallois prepares to axe up to 10,000 jobs or a fifth of its workforce.
The unease is felt most deeply in France and Germany, which between them employ 40,000 Airbus workers in 11 factories.
The cost-cutting plans were triggered by delays in the company's A380 superjumbo, which drove Airbus into loss last year and bled cash from EADS.
EADS says Airbus needs to reduce costs by €5bn by 2010 to boost productivity and make up for losses from delays to to the A380 superjumbo project.
It emerged last month Airbus had secured fewer orders for new planes last year than its rival Boeing for the first time since 2000.
