The crisis rocking European planemaker Airbus pointed increasingly towards a possible overhaul of the Franco-German command structure at parent EADS, two sources familiar with the matter said on Friday.
Under the latest plan for dealing with the financial and political wreckage from delays to the planemaker's A380 superjumbo programme, a dual management system at EADS could be axed with two top figures replacing the current "gang of four".
"It is certainly a scenario and one possibility, but I couldn't say what probability it has," said a source closely monitoring the situation at EADS, adding talks remained fluid.
Under one scheme, the German camp would have sole executive power and the French side would occupy the chairmanship and regain management supervision of Toulouse-based Airbus.
The idea is an informal one for now and would depend on support from the French government and its industrial partners DaimlerChrysler of Germany and France's Lagardere. The Frenchman's support in particular is uncertain. The German government warned this week against doing anything to upset the Franco-German balance inside EADS.
If agreed, the plan could determine the fate of EADS co-chief executive Noel Forgeard. He is fighting for his job amid criticism of his past share dealings and efforts to explain the factory-floor problems that led to a meltdown in EADS stock. The diminutive Forgeard has a history of bouncing back, but if he falls Airbus's German chief could be threatened too.
"The scheme calls for (French railways boss) Louis Gallois to be a non-executive chairman and (current German co-CEO) Tom Enders would be sole chief executive and Airbus would go back to the French," said another French source close to the matter.
French support for Forgeard has been slipping in recent days with both the prime minister and finance minister declining to back him publicly and President Jacques Chirac expressing only broad support for the A380 project and the company behind it. Airbus gained its first German chief executive, engineer Gustav Humbert, when Forgeard was promoted last year.
Bottlenecks in installing the 500 km of wiring laced through each of the double-decker A380s triggered a profit warning and stripped a quarter off the market value of EADS last week. The shockwaves caused a suspension of the French parliament when Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin accused the opposition Socialist leader of cowardice over the Airbus affair.
Forgeard has shifted the blame onto his successor for the wiring faults. But his critics argue Forgeard, who fought to keep Airbus independent from EADS when he was in charge, left the A380 over-budget and already facing some assembly problems. EADS declined to comment.