PARIS: A restructuring plan launched by Airbus in 2007 delivered more savings than expected, the European plane-maker's chief operating officer Fabrice Bregier told French daily Les Echos in an interview.
The Power 8 plan was launched in 2007 and initially targeted savings of 2.2 billion euros ($3.21 billion), 5 billion of additional cash and 10.000 jobs cuts over four years.
"What happened is that we saved 2.5 billion euros and generated 10 billion of cash despite the fact that this plan was considered as ambitious," Bregier said in remarks published on Friday.
But Bregier said a weaker-than-expected dollar had wiped out some of the benefits of the savings, and that the company has launched a new cost-cutting programme targeting 10 percent savings on its single-aisle A320 airliner and a revamped version of the plane, the neo.
Bregier also said Airbus, a subsidiary of EADS, had laid off 7,900 workers instead of the 10,000 originally planned.
He said the company had hired personnel to cope with increased production and the launch of Airbus's next plane, the mid-sized A350 which competes with Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.
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