The newly appointed head of Airbus says politics will not throw pending plant sales off course but if dollar weakness worsens, its Power8 restructuring plan would need a drastic revamp.
"It would make little sense to have a cosy political solution," Tom Enders said in an interview when asked if stakes in plants in France, Germany and the UK would necessarily have to be sold to companies from those countries.
Airbus wants to sell three of its 16 plants and stakes in three more to lower its production costs. Progress in the sales is expected this month.
"We are looking for sustainable solutions - in our own interest," said Enders, who is co-chief executive of Airbus parent firm EADS and was tapped this week to move over to Airbus as CEO. The Power8 cost-cutting programme is based on an exchange rate of $1.35 to the euro.
"If the dollar really moves in the direction of 1.50 and beyond, then we will have to consider other, very much more drastic measures," Enders said.
Airbus says each 10 cent move in the rate costs it an extra billion euros. "With the best will in the world, I am unable to tell you where the tolerance threshold is. We will closely monitor the further developments in this regard," Enders said.
Airbus is making changes after posting an operating loss last year hurt by the weak dollar and the costly delay of its A380 superjumbo. Plant sales and 10,000 job cuts are key components of the Power8 plan. There had also been speculation that EADS might need to raise capital but Enders was sanguine about the need for such a move.
Airbus lagged rival Boeing Co in orders for the year at the end of May but had an extraordinary June highlighted by orders taken at the Paris air show. Equal French and German core shareholders and executive power at EADS means the shake-up at Airbus also has to strike a balance in where the cuts are made.
To safeguard interests on the two sides, France and Germany have recently begun to examine the possibility of having golden shares in EADS. Enders, 48, is the fifth Airbus CEO in two years and takes over the civil airliner business despite a background mostly in defence.