Isn’t that … dumb? Or do I miss important facts?
Yes, you will mis facts. Decisions like these are made at board room levels. The information these guys have, will not be available to the BBC, CNN or some “reputable insider” on the internet. There probably is a very good reason for the sale of the EADS stake, but we do not have all information so can not judge.
However, here are some reasons I can think off:
Reason 1)
Airbus and Boeing share a duopoly in the long haul market, and a lot of the market in the medium haul market (others being Tupolev, Embraer, Bombardier).
Airbus will need a lot of investment if they are to remain in their top position. Remember, the bread and butter is the A320, not the A330/340/380. And the A320 is being challenged quite nicely already by the 737NG. And Boeing is already putting the foundatin in place for a replacement of the 737. Add to that the EMB-190 family and given time perhaps the SuperJet (RRJ) and Bombardier C-series. In short, the A320 will need an update. Maybe even a completely new airplane. And preferably before the new planes come on the market.
The A350 is still a paper plane that has yet to score a mayor victory against the 787. The A380 is late and proving more costly then originally budgeted for. And lately airliners seem to be holding back on orders. They would appear to want to see how the A380 behaves in operational use. Once the A380 has established itself as reliable, economic and appealing no doubt more orders will come in. But how long it will take for airlines to be convinced is anyones guess.
Now in the past this would be no problem. Assorted European nations would lend them money at favourable terms. Sometimes even give the money no questions asked. Nowadays this will be harder with the US breathing in their neck just waiting for a reason to go to the WTO.
The investment would thus have to largely come from the Airbus partners, BAe being a large one would have to pay deeply into the development. Money they either do not have, or think they can use for more profitable projects.
Reason 2)
Building planes is not that lucrative a business these days. The supporting businesses make more money nowadays. Take for example Fokker. The modern day Fokker is a whole lot more profitable then the old day Fokker from when they still made complete planes. The Japanese aviation industry is considered to be right up there with the best of them, even though they have not really made their own planes for a long time (except for some military projects that where almost obsolete when delivered).
Again finance come into play here. Aviation development is highly capital intensive. For a fraction of the cost of designing a plane, Fokker (in collaboration with the TU Delft) designed the composite Glare. That is making them a lot of money.
Reason 3)
It is well known that BAe is changing from a “aviation-allsorts” company into a military company. Gone are the ARJ, Jetstream and ATP. In are the Typhoon, Grippen, JSF, Hawk. And those is just the main fighter types.
Notice that fighter line-up? Every 5th (some would say 4.5th) fighter except for the Rafale is there. As long as noone buys the Rafale, BAe will always make money from new modern fighter sales. Obviously the Typhoon will make them more then the JSF/Grippen since BAe is just a minor player in JSF/Grippen, but still it shows that BAe is not completely stupid.
On top of that, the margins in the military market are better. Let’s face it, airlines pinch every penny since it is THEIR penny. Governments do not mind to spend a few billion on pork since they can easily increase taxes if need be. The money BAe receives just to do research is quite impressive. No positive results required (though recommendable if the money tap is to remain open for future projects).
And the market for the military is quite well. While the aviation market crashes once every 10 or so years, the military market is quite stable. Sure they will sell more when there is a war, but at the moment a unwinnable war on terror is declared so that will keep the moneytrain going. Add to that (potential) hotzones like Israel and the Koreas. A nice extra are assorted African, Middle Eastern and South American nations that have small-dick disease and you got a nice running market.
The largest market of them all (but a huge margin) is the US market. Pity that the US will only use US companies where possible. So BAe has been on a shopping spree lately buying US companies left, right and centre. Big money is required for that. It means shedding some assets, but gaining new assets. Assets, BAe hopes, that will prove to be more lucrative long term.
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