Volume 8 Number (Journal 668) May, 2015 in this issue

Airbus will not abandon A380 program 
PARIS, France - Airbus will not abandon its A380 jumbo jet program despite 
slow sales, its chief executive told Les Echos newspaper, and needs more time to 
decide whether to redesign its engines as major customer Emirates Airline has 
requested. 
Emirates, the leading buyer of the existing A380 jet with 140 orders, has been 
pushing Airbus to revamp the plane with newer engines, a move that could lower 
the number of seats airlines must sell to break even. Airbus boss Fabrice Bregier 
appeared to rebuff the request in the interview with Les Echos. "We are already working on ways to make 
the A380 more attractive economically by adding seats while preserving the amazing comfort of the plane," 
he said. "Long-term, the question will be how to improve its performance by working on aerodynamics and 
motorization. But we will not do that until a good business plan can be found. That is not the case now and 
we have no intention to spend indiscriminately." 
The CEO added that the A380 program would break even by the end of the year, and that Airbus hoped to 
maintain its financial performance.
On Airbus' other new relatively new model, the A350, Bregier said that Qatar Airways has seen no issues 
with the plane after two months of service. Airbus aims to deliver about 15 A350s this year and eventually 
up to 10 per month by 2018. 
Can US airlines compete with government-subsidized Gulf state airlines? 
WASHINGTON, DC – "We cannot allow air carriers based in certain Gulf 
states to collect billions in subsidies from their home governments to 
undercut US aviation and our country's vital standards for workers' rights. 
We welcome and encourage competition, but these massive subsidies distort 
the world market and tilt the playing field so drastically against us, we have 
no choice but to come together to defend our jobs," said the Association of 
Flight Attendants (AFA) International President Sara Nelson. 
Based on that, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) announced the union has joined the 
Partnership for Open and Fair Skies and its efforts to ensure US-based airlines are allowed to compete on a 
level global playing field. 
"The aviation industry was born in the United States, and we are proud to be a part of the safest, most 
efficient aviation system in the world," Nelson added.
The Partnership for Open and Fair Skies - composed of the leadership of the three largest US-based 
international carriers and union representatives from AFA, the Air Line Pilots Association, the Allied Pilots 
Association, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, 
and the Communications Workers of America - is asking the United States government to meet with 
representatives of the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to begin addressing concerns over government 
subsidization of their national airlines. 
"Through our work, including the push to deny Norwegian Air International's attempt to circumvent U.S. 
law and fly here in planes staffed by third-party outsourced crews to the effort to stop Congress from 
granting Fast Track Authority for secret deals. AFA has been outspoken on international issues affecting 
Flight Attendants," Nelson said. "We are proud to join US aviation workers and other stakeholders in the