Idle Speculation: The Fatal Flaw

Folks, here's something I've been thinking about for a while, and the idea is not yet fully formed inside my head so bear with me.

For a while we've been told that the problems that led to the huge delays in the A380 program were the failure to properly integrate design software, such that the wiring bundles from Germany did not fit. This, it is said, was because of customer requests for in flight entertainment equipment.

I think it's something that is much more fundamental, and this is based on four years on the production line and flight line at Douglas. Essentially, the new schedule is telling me that there is something so fundamentally wrong with the execution of the aircraft that Airbus has gone back to a clean sheet of paper and said "OK, boys-rip it out-all of it- and let's start over."

Mere IFE wiring faults wouldn't cause that sort of a delay to the schedule, and if it was, they'd deliver the aircraft without the IFE and fix it in the field. At least that's what Douglas would have done-send out a RAMS team and tell them not to come home until it was fixed.

It's also something that Airbus is keeping a lid on. The information's just not out there.

So bear with my paranoia for a while.....