EADS launches probe into Airbus delays

PARIS — Airbus parent company EADS will launch a probe into the latest delays of the superjumbo A380, its co-chairman said in an interview published today, amid mounting questions about the company's management and stock sales earlier this year.

Arnaud Lagardere, co-chair of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co., said he had no knowledge of the production problems with the A380 — the world's biggest passenger plane — until Airbus made an announcement Tuesday, according to the newspaper Le Monde.

Lagardere said EADS would launch a probe to determine what caused the delays and how much Airbus co-Chief Executive Gustav Humbert and EADS' co-Chief Executive Noel Forgeard knew about the problems.