Airbus A380 in big trouble

As of yesterday, the first A380 was due to be delivered to Airbus's first paying customer (Singapore Airlines) by the end of 2006. As of today, first delivery has been pushed back (no pun intended) to October 2007.

December 2006 would have represented a roughly 18 month delay from the program's initial launch target. October 2007 will make the A380 almost two and a half years late (assuming it does make it by then).

Prior to today's delay, people were mumbling about serious problems with the A380 program, and some have been quietly wondering if the program might end up being scrapped completely. Today's announcement raises the volume on those conversations...