TEXT OF STORY

SCOTT JAGOW: Rumors are swirling that the man who runs Airbus's parent company has resigned. The plane maker's parent company denies the report in a German newspaper, but there's no denying that delays in producing the super-jumbo A380, are killing Airbus right now. Eleanor Beardsley reports.

---

ELEANOR BEARDSLEY: Airbus has been mired in a financial and management crisis for several months.

The situation's been made worse by bickering between French and German partners over who's to blame for the delays.

Streiff, a German, is under considerable pressure. Already, some are floating the name of Frenchman Louis Gallois as a possible successor. Gallois is co-chief of Airbus' parent company EADS.

Christian Schubert is a business correspondent for German daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, which today reported that Streiff has already offered to resign.

CHRISTIAN SCHUBERT: Major shareholders believe he's not the manager to do the turnaround that is necessary for Airbus.

Schubert says Gallois has proven management experience as head of the French train company SNCF and is particularly skilled in dealing with the French trade unions.

With plenty of layoffs on the horizon at Airbus operations in France and Germany, that's skill could come in handy.

For Marketplace, I'm Eleanor Beardsley in Paris.