TOULOUSE, FRANCE -- Airbus plans to cut its subcontractor base by some 80%, to about 500, a company spokesman said today.

As part of a previously announced restructuring effort, the European aerospace consortium plans to cut administrative costs by 900 million euros ($1.14 billion) and supply costs by 350 million euros by 2010.

Airbus has been hampered by delivery delays of its new A380 plane. The program is two years behind schedule, and Airbus has stated it will need to sell 420 planes to break even, 150 more than originally estimated.