Airbus A380 Production: Latest News

Bellow is the latest production news of Airbus A380, which is continuously updated and posted by Oliver Gigacz of Airbus A380 Production (web site). I have summarized the latest production data and organized it in the following table. Older production events and information on A380 are available on Airbus A380 Production (web site) if someone is interested in reading further back into the production time-line.

Date	Event
11/26/2011	Airbus delivered Qantas’ eleventh A380 (MSN063) at a ceremony in Toulouse. Once in service, it will be utilized by Qantas to run daily Melbourne to Los Angeles flights.
11/25/2011	Emirates’ twenty-third A380 (MSN103) completed final assembly. She took just ten weeks to complete assembly, making her the quickest frame yet.
11/24/2011	Thai Airway’s first A380 (MSN087) has been spotted inside the body join hangars. She will be moved to the final assembly line shortly, and is expected to be completed in February 2012.
11/24/2011	Lufthansa’s tenth A380 (MSN073) began taxi testing. She is expected to perform her first flight next week, and join her sister ship (MSN072) in Hamburg as well.
11/22/2011	Singapore Airline’s eighteenth A380 (MSN085) completed final assembly and was towed to the flightline. She took just thirteen weeks to complete assembly.
11/18/2011	Emirates’ twenty-fifth A380 (MSN106) has been confirmed as the new frame being carried on Convoy #22/2011. Emirates will take delivery of MSN106 in the third quarter of 2012.
11/17/2011	Lufthansa’s ninth A380 (MSN072) performed her first flight. She is expected to be ferried to Hamburg next week. Delivery to the airline is scheduled for April 2012.

Also, If further interested, the following link, http://plane.spottingworld.com/A380_production_list, contains a production list of the aircraft type, serial number, airline registration, planned & delivery schedule, production status of each ordered aircraft, and other valuable information.

Richard H. Anderson

Mr. Richard H. Anderson was born in Galveston, TX in 1956. He began his career in law, then worked for Continental Airlines, Northwest Airlines and UnitedHealth Group before joining Delta. On September 1, 2007, Richard became Delta's Chief Executive Officer and a member of the company's Board of Directors.

Delta Air Lines was founded in 1928. Today, Delta is considered the world's largest airline in terms of capacity, with destinations in more than 350 cities around the globe. Delta has grown considerably over the years, through numerous mergers and acquisitions, including its most recent merger with Northwest Airlines.

Under Richard Anderson's leadership, Delta has built an airline with an unsurpassed global network, strong financial position and culture known for high employee engagement. Through his vision and leadership, Delta continues to expand and extend its network of strategic partnerships including trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia, as well as a preferred codeshare agreement with Alaska Airlines Group along the U.S. West Coast. In 2010, Delta Airlines successfully completed its merger integration with Northwest Airlines, for which Richard Anderson was recognized with the "2010 Airline Strategy Award for Executive Leadership" presented by industry trade magazine "Airline Business" and global executive search firm Spencer Stuart.

Richard's Aviation/Business Background:
Richards aviation experience expand over a 23-year period. It began in 1987 at Continental Airlines, where he served as Staff Vice President and Deputy General Counsel. His 14-year career with Northwest Airlines began in 1990, where he served as Vice President and Deputy General Counsel; Senior Vice President of Technical Operations and Airport Affairs; Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer; and as Chief Executive Officer from 2001 to 2004. In September 2007, Richard joined Delta Airlines after spending nearly three years as Executive Vice President of UnitedHealth Group and served as President of UnitedHealth's Commercial Markets Group. In addition, Richard is chairman of the Air Transport Association Board of Directors and serves as a director on the Boards of Cargill, Inc., Medtronic, Inc. and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

Richard's Education Background:
- Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Houston, TX
- Juris Doctorate Degree from South Texas College of Law.

Forbes Rankings:
Richard Anderson is ranked 315th on the Forbes Executive Pay in 2011, and was previously ranked 394th in 2010; Delta Air Lines' 627th on the Forbes Global 2000 in 2010; Medtronic's 228th on the Forbes Global 2000 in 2010; ranked 490th on the Forbes Executive Pay in 2009; in addition to numerous past rankings.

Andersons' Compensation for 2009:
Salary: $600,000.00
Restricted stock awards: $6,602,115.00
All other compensation: $1,173,217.00
Total Compensation: $8,375,332.00


In my point of view, Mr. Richard H. Anderson is one of the top influential people in our global aviation industry today. This successful business man is a role model in terms of vision and leadership. He has contributed significantly to the growth and success of the world's largest airline; while simultaneously contributing to the success and growth of the U.S. aviation industry. His executive leadership and airline/business strategy is a major contributing factor in the recent successful merger of Northwest Airlines and Delta. As an Aviation Management Technology student, I look forward to learning more about this individual' secrets to success and how he manged to successfully run the world's largest airlines in a recession economy.

Aviation Industry Corportation of China (AVIC)

"We are just a partner but no competitor. We are committed to develop aviation industry and pursue business success, to participate in global aviation industry chain and regional economy development circle,..."
                                                                      _Lin Zuoming, President of AVIC              

Aviation Industry Corporation of China was founded on November 6, 2008 through restructuring and consolidation of China Aviation Industry Corp I (AVIC I) and China Aviation Industry Corp II (AVIC II). AVIC's business units cover Defense, Transport Aircraft, Engine, Avionics and Systems, General Aviation, Aviation Research, Flight Test, Trade Logistics, Assets Management, Finance Services, Engineering Planning and Construction, Automobile and etc. Currently, AVIC owns nearly 200 member companies, over 20 listed companies and approximately 400,000 employees. On July 7, 2011, AVIC  ranked 310 among the newly published Fortune Top 500 enterprises. By the end of June, 2011, AVIC's total assets reached ¥500 billion. AVIC sticks to the principle of 'Technology spin-off from military to civil and to achieve synergy development between military and civil businesses', commits itself to commercial transportation industry and actively participate in the development of international aviation programs.

Financial/Strategic Partners
In 2009, AVIC signed strategic cooperation agreements with 15 domestic banks, gaining a total of 482 billion RMB credit volume of intention. Since the establishment of AVIC in 2008, it has maintained a 2-digit number growth in 2 consecutive years. The total revenue of 2009 reached 191 billion RMB with growth of about 14.4% from the previous year.

History of AVIC

1951 - April 17, Bureau of Aviation Industry was established
1954 - July 3, the first trainer produced by New China CJ-5
         - August 18, engine M-11 manufactured by Zhuzhou Aero Engine Factory
1956 - September 8, the first jet aircraft J-5 produced and certified by the authority.
1958 - July 26, the first jet trainer JJ-1 independently-designed and produced by China
1963 - September 23, the first supersonic jet fighter manufactured in China- J-6.
1982 - September 26, the large passenger aircraft Y-10 made its first flight successfully.
1988 - Ministry of Aerospace Industries was established
1993 - Aviation of Industries of China was established
1998 - March 23, third generation of fighter with independent intellectual property right - J-10 made its first flight successfully.
1999 - July 1, Aviation Industries of China was restructured to Aviation Industry Corporation I and II.
         - October 3, the trunkliner jointly produced by China and US-MD-90-30 made its first flight successfully in Shanghai. It was certified by the FAA on October 28.
2000 - June, MA60 was award type certificate by Chinese civil aviation airworthiness authority.
         - August 13, the first MA60 aircraft was delivered to Sichuan Airlines.
2007 - February 27, J-10 received the 2006 Outstanding Award for National Science and Technology Progress on the National Science and Technology Award Conference.
         - December 21, the new regional aircraft ARJ21-700 made its first flight successfully.
2008 - October 10, new type of independently produced turboprop regional aircraft MA600 made its first flight successfully in Xi'an.
         - November 6, the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) was established after reorganization, setting out on the journey of new aviation, great aviation and strong aviation.
2009 - September 1, China's self-developed large passenger aircraft C919 started its nose prototype production in AVIC.

Supplier of Transportation Capability: Aviation Transportation Products



Passenger Aircraft: MA60 (turboprop regional passenger aircraft); MA600, ARJ21 (jet regional aircraft); ERJ-145 (turbofan regional aircraft).

Transport Aircraft: Y-7, short/medium-range regional aircraft; Y-8, first generation medium-sized/medium-ranged multipurpose transport aircraft.

General Aircraft: N-5, agriculture/forestry aircraft; Y-12, light twin-engined multipurpose transport aircraft, the first type of Chinese civil aircraft certified by international airworthiness authorities (CAA in the UK and FAA in the US).

Civil Helicopter: AC313, 13-ton civil helicopter; H425, new generation of multipurpose helicopter.

Transportation Services: Joy Air Co, Ltd, co-founded by AVIC and China Eastern, is the only airlines that operates 100% China homemade aircraft. It is based in the west of China and positioned to provide regional transportation.

Domestic/International Orders:
In late 2010 AVIC International signed an agreement with Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (COMAC) to purchase 10 ARJ21 to market to international carriers. Most of current orders for the ARJ21 are from domestic carriers, but Lao Airlines, which ordered two aircraft, will likely be the ARJ21's foreign operator.

AVIC commits itself to fulfilling its social responsibility of providing extensive job opportunities. More than 6,000 graduates from universities are recruited in China each year. Technician and management personnel who are performing outstandingly will be provided opportunities for further eduction overseas; and nearly 100 employees have been funded to study in foreign well-known universities to obtain their degrees.

In my opinion, AVIC somewhat is a successful Chinese domestic aircraft manufacturing corporation, but it has not yet secured its place in the international market. If more countries such as China start to independently manufacture their own civil and military aircraft and produce them efficiently, then in the long run large companies such as Airbus, Boeing, GE, etc, will foresee a negative economical impact as a result.