PARIS — Airbus plans big cutback in number of suppliers Airbus, the European plane maker, is to cut the number of its suppliers by more than 80 percent as part of its restructuring program, a spokeswoman confirmed Monday, but the company gave no further details of the planned cuts. The number of suppliers will be reduced "from 3,000 to 500," the spokeswoman, Marcella Muratore, said. European Aeronautic Defense & Space, which owns Airbus, said last month that it planned to cut costs by €2 billion, or $2.54 billion, annually by 2010, as Airbus doubled the production delay afflicting its doubledecker A380 jet to two years.