Legal Responsibilities of Airbus Group

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary
Introduction
Legal Aspects of HS&E
Employment and Legal Challenges at Airbus Group
Contracts and Legal Cases
Product and Professional Liability
Comparison between Airbus Group and Boeing
Conclusion and Recommendations
References

Executive Summary

Airbus Group is a predecessor of European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company. It was founded on 10 July, 2000. The company operates from France. However, it is incorporated in the Netherlands. The group is headed by Denis Ranque, who is the chairman. The CEO is Dr. Tom Enders. As of 2013, the corporation had revenues of €59.3 billion and a backlog of €634.8 billion. In 2012, its operation income was €2.131, while profits were €1.299. Total assets were €92.102 and total equity €10.434. All the figures are in billions. The number of employees in mid 2013 was 143,358 (Grant 2014). In spite of its success, Airbus Group has faced a number of legal challenges. In this paper, the author analysed some of the legal elements associated with the company.

Introduction

Airbus Group is an aerospace and defence conglomerate based in Europe and with operations in different parts of the world. It is registered in Netherlands, but its headquarters are based in Toulouse, France. The corporation is made up of three divisions. The three are Airbus, Airbus Defence and Space, and Airbus Helicopters (Pederson 2014). It was founded on 10 July, 2000. Originally, it was known as the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS). It was formed from a merger between Aerospatiale-Matra, DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG (DASA), and Construcciones Aeronàuticas SA (CASA). The company’s name was changed to Airbus Group. The change took place on January 2014 (Grant 2014). The new name was acquired from the firm’s subsidiary involved in the construction of commercial airplanes. The subsidiary was a major revenue generator for the firm. The move resulted in a combination of various departments. For example, the departments in charge of the development and marketing of civil and military airliners were merged.

Airbus unit, which is involved in the manufacture of public airplanes, is the leading division in terms of employees and sales (Gil 2007). Its main products include the A320 family and A380 passenger airliners. The Defence and Space departments were formed as a result of the restructuring carried out on Airbus Military, Astrium, and Cassidian. The euro-copter division is the world’s leading manufacturer of helicopter (Hill & Jones 2013). In addition to the three major divisions, the corporation has other important sub-units. They include Airbus Group Inc., Dassault Aviation, and Eurofighter GmbH. Others are MBDA, Airanespace, and DAHER-SOCATA. According to Hill and Jones (2013), Sogerma, Dornier Consulting, and Premium AEROTEC are also part of the group.

In this paper, the author will analyse the legal responsibilities of Airbus Group. To this end, the author will highlight the legal aspects of HS&E, employment, contracts, product, and professional liability. In addition, legal elements in relation to possible case scenarios will be analysed. A comparison between Airbus Group and Boeing will also be made.

Legal Aspects of HS&E

Ensuring the health and safety of employees is Airbus Group’s top responsibility. The company has a policy of psychological risk prevention management. Its key goal is to ensure the workers do not suffer from work related psychosocial injuries. In a joint effort with its stakeholders, the corporation does its level best to ensure quality and adequate resources are set aside for employees’ health maintenance (Szabo 2009).

When it comes to safety, Airbus group does its best to anticipate any potential risks. Thorough analysis is carried out on the products, processes, and facilities to resolve any weaknesses that may compromise safety of both employees and customers. The procedure is conducted from the first phase of manufacturing to the last. Generally, check-ups are audited every month during regular company reviews (Bhatija 2013). In addition, the company brings together talent and technology. The aim is to enhance innovation, integration, and internalisation. As a result, the airline group develops cutting edge technology to help its clients connect and protect lives.

In addition, the company adheres to strict rules concerning environmental protection. Its major focus is on pollution control and prevention. One theme employed is acoustics. It lessens the noise produced by an aircraft during operations (Gil 2007). The other mechanism used is aerodynamics. It helps to reduce the level of fuel consumption. Measures are also put in place to ensure the company’s personnel work in an environment conducive for performance and self-discipline. Workstations that are considered unsafe are modified to ensure safety levels are met (Armanios 2006).

There are various instances where the importance of the health and safety of employees has become evident. A case in point is when the company was fined £200,000 after a worker died. Aerospace Avenue Filton, Bristol, was further ordered to pay £58,891 in costs. The decision was made after it emerged that the company had violated the Health and Safety at Work Act of 1974 (Malaval, Bnaroya & Aflafo 2013).

Employment and Legal Challenges at Airbus Group

Every company has its procedures for recruitment and employment of workers. Airbus Group has employees of more than one hundred nationalities (Hill & Jones 2013). As a result, it benefits a lot from the diversity of personnel. The reason is because it enjoys a blend of ideas, knowledge, and vision. To maintain the cultural diversity, employees are urged to develop individual talents and be proud of their heritage (Armanios 2006). In addition, the company values the high levels of experience and expertise acquired from the global workforce. Currently, the number of female employees is on the rise. They perform a wide range of duties and responsibilities that are similar to those of their male counterparts.

Recent graduates and experienced candidates can look for job opportunities at Airbus Group using various channels. The company’s job market search engine contains all the available vacancies in the three manufacturing divisions (Pederson 2014). More positions outside Europe are found on the International opportunities site. Nations listed on the page are China, India, Saudi Arabia, and the US. There is a segment for featured roles. They are the regularly recruited vacancies, including Engineering, IT, and Business (Newhouse 2007).

Registering in the site allows the air group’s recruitment team to access the profiles of candidates and assess them. Applicants are advised to provide as much information as possible. Notifications on whether or not one has been picked for the applied position are made through the Candidate Cockpit (Szabo 2009). In addition, candidates are required to give information on extra-curriculum activities, knowledge and interest in the field, language, membership to societies, and work experience (Norris & Wagner 2005). Each job opening in the corporation is filled using specific selection criteria for candidates. However, there are basic steps that have to be followed. They include screening, assessment, contract preparation, and on boarding (Grant 2014).

Contracts and Legal Cases

Airbus Group is awarded numerous contracts annually. As a result, the manufacturing teams have to work hard to ensure they deliver the orders. In 2014, the corporation recorded some measure of success in this end. On December, it sold 468 airplanes to clients (Pederson 2014). The products included A320, A330, and A350 crafts. In addition, the Group recorded the best-ever delivery performance. It manufactured 75 jetliners for international clients in December.

At the end of the year, the company had orders for 113 airliners from A319, A320, and A321 current engine versions (CEV). Furthermore, it received 259 orders for the A320 and A321 new engine configurations. Eight were for A330-200, A330-300, and A350s. Eighty orders were for A330neos jetliners (Pederson 2014). The most notable contracts for A330neos were from new clients. They were Air Asia, Avolon, Hawaiian, and Trans Asian airliners. On its part, Airbus new A350 XWB version got a repeat order from Finnair.

The table below highlights the orders received by Airbus in 2013:

Table 1: Airbus Group’s orders for 2013

Model	Total orders	Total deliveries	Aircrafts in operation
A300/A310	816	816	362
Single aisle	11514	6385	6133
A330/A340/A350	2624	1532	1474
A380	317	152	152
Totals	15271	8885	8121

Product and Professional Liability

Airbus Group stands up for all their behaviour and what they believe to be right. The corporation takes liability for their actions and the quality and safety of their products. The reason is because it values the trust bestowed upon it by its clients, colleagues, and stakeholders. Maintaining professional and product liability allows it to create competitive inventions, solutions, and services (Newhouse 2007). As a result, the group enjoys added value. In addition, it secures a strong future growth, leading to more profits and success. The company operates on a policy emphasising on the importance of what is delivered and how this is done (Norris & Wagner 2005).

Comparison between Airbus Group and Boeing

Airbus and Boeing have been engaged in stiff competition since the 1990s (Armanios 2006). The rivalry has led to a series of mergers in the aerospace manufacturing industry. In terms of orders, within the 2004-2013 period, Airbus received 8933 contracts and delivered 4,824. Boeing received 8428 and delivered 4458 airplanes (Hill & Jones 2013). In 2013, Airbus group recorded more success in contracts and deliveries compared to Boeing.

The chart below illustrates how the two giant firms worked to meet their market needs:

Figure 1: A comparative analysis of the performance of Airbus and Boeing

Just like Airbus Group, Boeing has a large taskforce drawn from all over the world (Newhouse 2007). In addition, the corporation adheres to professional and product liability issues. The two are key elements to the success of any company. Generally, variations are experienced in the contracts segment.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Conclusion

Airbus Group has strived to make its mark in the airline industry. In spite of stiff competition from Boeing, the company has enjoyed significant levels of success. For example, it is the manufacturer of the world’s biggest passenger jetliner, the A380. On September 2014, the giant corporation came up with a plan to dissociate itself from Dassault and other sub-divisions. The aim was to help it focus on aerospace. Airbus Group maintains transparent employment and recruitment procedures. It also adheres to the legal aspects of health, safety, and environment.

Recommendations

To sustain its competitive edge in the market, Airbus Group needs to put in place a number of measures. To start with, it is recommended that the company should focus more on its core business of manufacturing crafts. The management should consider outsourcing some of the non-core activities, such as recruitment. Secondly, Airbus Group should continue working hard to improve the welfare of the employees and other stakeholders. Such a move will reduce the risks of legal suits, such as those evidenced in instances where employees incur accidents within the premises.

References

Armanios, D 2006, ‘Parochialism in EU economic policy: case study between the Boeing Company and the Airbus Company’, International Journal of Technology, Policy, and Management, vol. 6 no. 1, pp. 66-85.

Bhatija, N 2013, Aerospace industry, Random Publications, New Delhi.

Gil, J 2007, European aeronautics: the South-western axis, Springer, Berlin.

Grant, T 2014, International directory of company histories, St. James Press, Detroit.

Hill, C & Jones, G 2013, Strategic management: an integrated approach, 10th edn, Cengage Learning, Mason.

Malaval, P, Bnaroya, C & Aflalo, J 2013, Aerospace marketing management: a handbook for the entire value chain, Springer, New York.

Newhouse, J 2007, Boeing versus Airbus: the inside story of the greatest international competition in business, A.A. Knopf, New York.

Norris, G & Wagner, M 2005, Airbus A380: superjumbo of the 21st century, Zenith Press, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Pederson, J 2014, International directory of company histories, St. James Press, Detroit.

Szabo, P 2009, Third report study of the Mulroney Airbus settlement, House of Commons, Ottawa.

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