WHY AIRBUS COULD GO INTO A DIVE

摘要

It was a wound to the Achilles' heel of Europe's biggest aerospace com-rnpany. Only a few months ago, the gi-ant European Aeronautic Defence &rnSpace. Co. (Eads) was chugging along, powered by the performance of itsrnbiggest unit, commercial jet maker Air-bus Industrie. The pace began to slowrnin June as a slumping global economy forced Airbus to scale back sales fore-casts. Then came the attack on the World Trade Center, followed by a steep drop in air travel and a cascade of bankruptcy warnings in the globalrnairline industry. Analysts now foresee arnwave of canceled and delayed air-rncraft orders that by 2003 could leave worldwride deliveries at as littlernas half of recent levels. On Sept. 18, Airbus rival Boeing Co. an-nounced it would lay off up torn30,000 workers.