A350: "Until the end, it will be a marathon"

LE FIGARO. – In late 2006, EADS gave the go-ahead to the A350 XWB for its first delivery in 2013. Where is this program? The timetable will be respected there?

Didier Evrard. – Developing a new aircraft is flying a program of high technology, so managing risk. And there, on an ambitious project which has as many technological innovations, particularly with 53% of composite materials.

Until the end, it will be a marathon, and we have to face challenges. When we encounter problems, we find solutions. In 2009, I decided to give three months more to our team compared to the original schedule, for some elements such as design, or for critical parts such as the junction between the wings and fuselage and the points where systems will be hung in the carbon fuselage.This decision reduced our margin of safety and caused a delay of three months to start the final assembly plant in Toulouse, in the third quarter of 2011 instead of the second quarter of 2011. Part of the margin for flight testing has been "consumed", and we have redefined the planning of these tests over 12 months.

Can there be a delay of the delivery schedule?

No, this does not affect the first delivery is scheduled for mid-2013 with Qatar Airways, one year after the start of flight testing and certification campaign. We entered the second phase of the program, the manufacturing and kitting.Steps have been taken to secure this crucial stage.

Which exactly?

We have built physical models and demonstrators that enable teams and our industry partners to train, whether in Broughton for the wing to the fuselage in Hamburg or in Nantes where employees of our subsidiary Aerolia M?aulte train on the manufacture of composite parts first cash advance payday loan. We worked on the ramp-up production, which will start in 2013, reaching ten A350 XWB monthly maximum activity. It is a difficult phase because while assembling the first aircraft, we continue their development during flight tests.We have taken steps to be able to integrate at this stage, changes.

No wiring problems for the A380 like?

No. The A350 XWB is the first aircraft from the "New Airbus", an integrated company has consolidated its industrial organization through Power8. Once the development phase, the program was conducted by an organization with its integrated and transnational centers of excellence: fuselage, cabin, composite … From the beginning, 1,000 engineers from across Europe have worked together on a Toulouse "plateau" central to the definition and harmonization of methods and tools. All facilities use the same machines, the same types of tools, consulting firms use the same tools for planning and design (PLM to manage the complete cycle of the product). Meanwhile, we have overhauled our relationships with our suppliers.We have assigned 50% of the aerostructure instead of 25-30% previously. Our suppliers have systems for their part received lots of work with more complex integration of sub-assemblies.

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