Airbus parent company EADS will launch a probe into the latest delays of the superjumbo A380, its co-chairman said in an interview published Thursday, amid mounting questions about the company's management and stock sales earlier this year.

Arnaud Lagardere, co-chair of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co., said he had no knowledge of the production problems with the A380 — the world's biggest passenger plane — until Airbus made an announcement Tuesday, according to the newspaper Le Monde.

Lagardere said EADS would launch a probe to determine what caused the delays and how much Airbus co-Chief Executive Gustav Humbert and EADS' co-Chief Executive Noel Forgeard knew about the problems.

Speculation is rife that the debacle could cost them their jobs. Forgeard, who launched the A380 project as head of Airbus in 2000, on Wednesday deflected suggestions that the setback could lead to his ouster.

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