[Stay on top of transportation news: .]
UPS Cancels Airbus Order for Freight Aircraft
UPS Inc. said Friday it will cancel a scheduled order for 10 Airbus A380 freighters.
The carrier had intended to complete an internal study of whether it could wait until 2012 for the aircraft, but made the decision following Airbus’ announcement Thursday that it is diverting employees from the A380 freighter program to work on the passenger version of the plane.UPS originally announced the deal in December. The order was worth about $2.8 billion, Bloomberg reported at the time. (Click here for previous coverage.)The final decision will be formally presented to Airbus on the first date specified under an agreement reached last week that gives either party the right to terminate the order, UPS said.The agreement specified a revised delivery schedule that delayed UPS’s first A380 jumbo freighter from 2010 to 2012. UPS originally expected the first freighter in 2009.UPS is ranked No. 1 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.