Berlin's Der Tagesspiegel wrote that politicians, not Airbus CEO Louis Gallois, are managing the aircraft maker. "They're doing a worse job than they did with Germany's health care reform," it continued. "The Power 8 savings program is an emergency operation without a clear outcome. The German federal government is already lauding itself for having defended German interests successfully while Airbus is turning into an election campaign issue in France. It's impossible to restructure the company in an economically feasible way like this. Should this be true, it won't just affect these first 10,000 workers."

The Financial Times Deutschland on the other hand said that people shouldn't see the plan as a sign that the economic upswing is over. "The skepticism is exaggerated -- partly also, because job cuts don't always mean that places to work will actually disappear," it commented. "Airbus employees should look at US rival Boeing, which decided to axe tens of thousands of jobs in 2001. Many of those affected now work for suppliers, who experienced strong growth. The safest jobs are those at competitive companies, not those dependent on the grace of politicians.

And the Berliner Zeitung added that while cutting jobs to restructure might sound logical, it wasn't. "Orders for the A380 are massive, but Airbus cannot deliver," it wrote. "Any economist would advise to crank up production to satisfy demand. Airbus is dumping hypermodern and effective production site such as those in Lower Saxony. A case of too much state and bureaucracy and too little entrepreneurial spirit?

French papers meanwhile expressed understanding for the Airbus plan. In an editorial, the left-leaning Liberation pointed to the need to match efforts by US rival Boeing.

"The arch-rival Boeing, once unsettled by competition from Europe, has carried out a thorough review of its industrial model," it wrote. "The results of its purge are beginning to be felt."

The economic daily La Tribune said that for the new boss of Airbus, Louis Gallois, "the exercise was an extremely dangerous one," but the move "will, in the eyes of observers, be seen as in good faith once the legitimate feelings caused by the shock of the announcement have passed."

The communist newspaper L'Humanite also noted the challenge from Boeing, writing of the necessity to "bring Airbus' management into line with that of Boeing for an increased profitability."

And the conservative Le Figaro for its part called on the manufacturer to "follow things to their logical conclusion" by "throwing out shareholders who have become a burden and useless, and attract others, who are concerned to invest in what remains, in spite of appearances, one of the most attractive European enterprises."