FedEx bolts from Airbus, orders 15 Boeing 777s

PARIS — Boeing scored a victory in the airliner wars Tuesday when FedEx became the first customer to cancel an order for Airbus’s much delayed A380 jumbo jets and said it will instead will buy Boeing 777s.

FedEx Corp., the world’s largest express transportation company, cited production delays for its decision to retract an order for 10 of the new double-decker A380’s. Its FedEx Express unit has ordered 15 Boeing Co. 777 freighters with a list price of $3.5 billion (2.8 billion euros) and taken options on an additional 15.

The A380 cancellations leave just 15 superjumbo freighter orders on the Airbus books — from United Parcel Service Inc. and International Lease Finance Corp. — and a further 142 orders for the plane’s passenger version.

FedEx Chairman and CEO Frederick W. Smith said, “The availability and delivery timing of this aircraft, coupled with its attractive payload range and economics, make this choice the best decision for FedEx.”

Boeing Co.’s stock rose more than 5 percent on the news — its biggest one-day jump since June 14, when an earlier announcement of A380 delays sent its shares up 6.5 percent.

Shares of Airbus parent European Aeronautic Defense & Space Co. ended down 3 percent in Paris.

Airbus regrets the decision by FedEx, company spokeswoman Barbara Kracht said, “but we understand their need to urgently address their capacity growth.”

The European plane maker recently doubled the production delay for the A380 jet to two years. To streamline production, Airbus announced Monday that it will slash the number of suppliers it uses from 3,000 to 500.

Boeing said delivery of its aircraft to FedEx Express will begin in 2009.