Original subtitles

[Narrator] Move over, jumbo jet!

This is the Airbus A380--

the world's largest passenger plane.

It's fast, fuel efficient,

and holds over 500 with room to spare.

[Man] It's a big day, it's a big lady.

[Narrator] A game changer that's also a big gamble.

[Man] For everybody

there will be some kind of a learning curve there.

[Narrator] Airlines like Lufthansa are betting on it

to win over customers and maximize profits.

[Man] Welcome to a very special occasion.

[Narrator] They're about to send their newest A380

into uncharted territory...

[Co-pilot] Rotate.

[Narrator] ...where it will need to prove it's worth every penny.

Frankfurt airport--

the main hub for Lufthansa.

The German carrier operates

the world's fourth largest fleet of passenger planes.

But they're struggling with a growing problem.

While the demand for air travel is increasing,

many busy airports have already maxed out

on takeoff and landing slots.

Airport congestion is ironically killing profits.

Enter the Airbus A380,

the world's largest passenger plane.

It carries 100 more passengers than a 747

but burns 12% less fuel.

It should be a winning combination--

lower gas bills and more paying customers.

Lufthansa's target is a fleet of 15,

and today they're about to buy number eight.

At the airbus delivery center in hamburg, Germany,

Lufthansa's Heiner Kramer is about to place

a multi-million dollar bet.

At $375 million,

the A380 is the most expensive passenger plane ever made.

[Woman] Good morning, Heiner, good to see you.

[Heiner Kramer] I have to say the takeover of the 380 airbus

is a very hard job, because it is a very big aircraft

and it is a very complex aircraft.

[Man] A little bit more work to do.

[Heiner] Let's start.

[Narrator] In the room with Heiner

are airbus representatives

from the technical and commercial sides.

Marco Potschkat has overseen the flight tests

and final inspection of the A380.

[Marco Potschkat] This is the actual weighing report

of MSN 70.

[Heiner] Thank you.

[Marco] And this document describes the electrical status

of the aircraft.

[Narrator] If the performance data does not measure up,

or he's not satisfied with the results,

Heiner has the power to walk away.

[Heiner] A little bit heart beating

to sign an aircraft,

especially to sign a 380 aircraft.

[Marco] Well, Heiner, if you're satisfied

with the documentation we've provided to you,

then I would be pleased if you could sign that for me.

[Narrator] The assembly of Lufthansa's latest A380

began exactly one year ago in Toulouse, France.

Christopher Stonehouse is the head

of the A380 customer program.

Since their first delivery in 2007,

it's been a struggle to meet their goal

of churning out four super jumbos every month.

[Chris Stonehouse] Here at station 40,

we put the whole aircraft together in one shot.

Each wing weighs in the order of about 37 tons.

And the fuselage we're looking at is about 70 tons.

So the parts and sizes are huge, and they're quite heavy.

[Narrator] Weight and size are obvious impediments to speed,

but so, too, is the supply chain.

Airbus has thousands of suppliers in 30 countries

building components for their planes.

The largest are shipped from the UK, Spain and Germany.

From the Atlantic coast, they're floated up the garonne river

before being put back onto trucks

for the last stage of the journey.

[Chris] When these sections are delivered down to Toulouse,

they've all been fully equipped,

so all of the hydraulic lines are inside the fuselage,

all of the electrical harnesses are inside the fuselage,

so it's just a question of joining it up

and then connecting up all of the pieces.

[Narrator] And when the giant sections finally arrive,

airbus expects them to fit together

with surgical precision.

[Chris] The tolerance that we're working to

in terms of the wing to center section joint

is in the order of about 40 microns.

Now, that might not mean a lot to you,

but that is basically about the thickness of a piece of paper.

[Narrator] With such a complicated process,

it's little wonder that,

while over 200 planes have been ordered,

to date, only 50 have been delivered.

When completed,

the finished product is a revolution in aircraft design.

The A380 is both longer and taller than the iconic 747.

At almost 260 feet, its wingspan stretches farther

than the wright brothers' first flight.

Despite its massive size,

the A380 needs to deliver maximum fuel economy.

Almost a quarter of its structure is composite materials

to reduce weight

and allow airlines to load up on fancy cabin trimmings.

[Chris] We're looking today at an airplane

that has a maximum takeoff weight of nearly 570 tons,

which is quite a lot.

We look at the weights with the airline

and we're able to see how much weight is going on

with the special features, the seats,

the weight of the galleys, things to heat up towels,

cappuccino machines, toasters.

So all of those items we look at

to see how much the total weight will be,

and then the airline can decide as well

whether or not they want to take those particular items.

[Narrator] Every step of the process

is checked and re-checked by airbus

and then by Lufthansa representatives.

[Heiner] Sometimes we're a little bit astonished

about the complexity of the delivery

and also of the aircraft itself.

It is very big and very new from the technical standpoint.

[Marco] It's very important if a customer declares

an acceptance of an aircraft

from the technical point of view.

So that is my target.

[Narrator] By this point,

Heiner and his team have finished kicking the tires.

Now it's time to pay up.

[Ian] Patrick, hi, yes, Ian.

Lufthansa have released the funds.

Can you check whether we've received them already?

[Woman] Congratulations!

Thank you so much.

[Narrator] After a $375 million purchase

anyone might need a drink!

For Lufthansa,

the challenge of building their latest A380 is over.

But for their expensive gamble to pay off,

it needs to win over passengers and airport crews

who have never encountered an aircraft this size.

[Heiner] And at the moment

the A380 is a white elephant in the world,

because about 50 aircraft are flying around the world,

and so all the airports have to prepare new processes

for this new aircraft.

[Narrator] Lufthansa's latest purchase

is joining a super jumbo fleet about to make history

as the first to service

San Francisco's international terminal.

The A380 is billed as a fast,

fuel efficient, and luxurious airliner

that passengers will pay a premium to experience.

But if it fails to deliver on those promises,

it's money down the drain.

Their A380s have already proven themselves a success

on routes into Asia and South Africa.

Now the push is on to expand into the united states.

[Carsten Spohr] It's a very special occasion, indeed.

As a matter of fact, the first time ever

an airbus A380 is flying into San Francisco's

on a scheduled service.

[Narrator] Captain Juergen raps is Lufthansa's chief pilot

and in command today.

He flew the airline's first A380 to Johannesburg.

[Juergen Raps] I would say it was

my baby from the very beginning,

so I'm happy to have this flight today.

[Narrator] Together with captain Ingo Meyerdierks

and first officer Harald Tschira,

Juergen's reviewing the flight plan.

[speaking German]

[Narrator] The route to the U.S. Has been plotted

using a computer program.

Potential traffic jams, weight and weather

have all been accounted for.

[Juergen] When you have a lot of wind on your nose, for instance,

then of course the flight time is a little bit longer,

up to one hour, even one hour 20 minutes sometimes

on long range flights.

[Narrator] But that's not what's in store now.

[Juergen] Today, we have very calm winds

on the north Atlantic,

so the flight time is pretty fast,

it's 10 1/2 hours.

[Narrator] And on this maiden voyage,

that's not a good thing.

[Juergen] We will be around about half an hour early

in San Francisco's, which is not good,

because all the media expect us on time.

So we have to lose some time en route.

[Narrator] Lufthansa expects pilots to arrive safely

and on time and do it as efficiently as possible.

They're counting on Juergen to take only the fuel he needs.

It's their biggest expenditure,

and they don't want to waste a drop.

[Harald Tschira] Just in case. You never know.

[Narrator] His last order of business is signing

for the $150,000 worth of jet fuel

they'll need to reach San Francisco's.

[Juergen] Voila.

[Narrator] Juergen's a veteran with the A380.

But the crew on the receiving end is not.

[Man] 44 right and 45 left.

[Narrator] San Francisco's is one of America's top ten

busiest airports.

And today, it's about to get a lot busier.

A decade ago they upgraded their international terminal

to handle super jumbos,

and now they're about to welcome

their first regularly scheduled A380 flight.

[Juergen] I think as it is for first passenger aircraft,

of this size in San Francisco's,

of course, I think for everybody

there will be some kind of a learning curve there.

[Narrator] On the ramp in Frankfurt,

it's full steam ahead.

Their historic departure is one hour away.

600 pieces of luggage, food for 500,

and tons of fuel for the journey all need to be loaded

in a carefully choreographed sequence.

The hundreds tasked with getting it ready

work in an imaginary 260-by-260-foot box.

The A380 itself takes up most of the space

along with the three jetways required

to get the passengers on board the double-decker

in 30 minutes.

[speaking German]

[Narrator] Inside the terminal,

Lufthansa flight manager Fustero Morales

is the man responsible for pulling out on time.

[Fustero Morales] If the flight would be completely full,

we could load more than 500.

[Narrator] With just 30 minutes until boarding begins,

he feels the pressure.

[Fustero] That's the biggest challenge,

that's what I'm responsible for, being on time.

If not, I have to explain why.

[Narrator] To load his passengers quickly,

he needs his overhead screens to direct them.

[Fustero] We have a slight problem with our screen.

[Narrator] But one of them is on the fritz.

Fustero's roughly 500 passengers

will not be treated equally.

His premium guests will be welcomed

in the first class cabin on the upper deck.

With only eight seats, there's plenty of room

for extending each one into a bed

almost seven feet in length.

The restrooms are what you would expect for $10,000 a ticket.

Another 98 passengers, sharing the upper deck,

will make do with business class.

Below them, on the first floor,

the economy section holds another 420.

Robert Clayton is an operations agent,

and he's Fustero's counterpart on the outside.

Right now he's supervising

the loading of the luggage and cargo.

[Robert Clayton] Put it on 22 Romeo

and move one of the baggage containers on 14 lima.

[Narrator] He's following a plan that distributes

the weight of the load evenly for maximum fuel economy.

[Robert] What we have to watch about

is the balance of the aircraft.

It always depends on the passengers,

where they are sitting.

If aircraft is not full, we have sometimes surprises

and maybe 10-15 minutes before departure

the flight will be out of balance

and we have to reposition the load.

[Narrator] It's all going well

until there's a problem with catering

that could delay the boarding.

He heads inside to get Fustero up to speed.

[Narrator] Fustero can't board

until the catering guys are gone, so he's stuck.

[Narrator] At least his broken screen is well on the way

to getting fixed.

[Juergen] We are well ahead of schedule.

[Narrator] Meanwhile, Juergen preps the rest of his team.

To look after his 495 passengers,

he'll rely on a cabin crew of 22.

[Juergen] And the weather in San Francisco's is crisp,

clear blue skies,

sunshine, top temperature's around 19 degrees Celsius-wise.

And there is no turbulence or no weather reported en route

on our way to San Francisco's.

Morgen!

[Fustero] Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

Your Lufthansa star alliance inaugural flight

to San Francisco's with the airbus A380

is now ready for boarding.

Do you have your boarding pass?

Just through here, through the entrance.

Everything all right,

we start boarding first and business class.

So, we are fairly on time.

I suppose in 10 minutes, we'll have them all.

[Narrator] But 10 minutes later, things are not good.

[Fustero] So, 30 missing.

Sometimes, I can't explain where the passengers disappear.

The curtain is rising on Lufthansa's first A380 flight

to San Francisco's,

but without passengers the show can't go on.

[Fustero] Passengers Blays, Bouoy,

Engels, Fruli, Hoffman, Kruger...

[Narrator] Finally, the last stragglers appear.

[radio chatter]

[Narrator] Just two minutes behind schedule,

Juergen's cleared to the active runway.

Empty, his jet weighed 595,000 pounds.

With fuel, food and passengers,

it now tips the scales closer to 1.1 million.

Juergen advances the throttle and the A380 accelerates.

[Man] Takeoff power is set.

[Narrator] Seconds later, both pilots confirm

their airspeed indicators match.

When the cockpit's automated voice calls out...

...they are committed to the takeoff.

There's not enough runway left to stop.

If all goes well,

they'll touch down in San Francisco

and history will be made.

Juergen engages the A380's flight management system

that will steer the jet to California.

He likes to fly it manually,

but not for 11 hours straight.

[Juergen] I think from a pilot's point of view,

in spite of its weight and its size,

it's very responsive,

extremely responsive to the control inputs by the pilot,

when it is flown manually.

You wouldn't expect such a heavy aircraft

to respond in such a fast way.

[Narrator] From Frankfurt,

they'll head north over the Netherlands and the UK,

they'll see Iceland and Greenland

before turning south over Canada.

After almost 11 hours and 5,600 miles later,

they'll finally touch down in San Francisco's.

[Narrator] A medical emergency,

severe weather or a technical glitch

are the only things that can threaten an on-time arrival.

If the situation is severe enough to force a landing,

Juergen is prepared.

[Juergen] We always have alternate airports.

As a matter of fact, during the whole flight,

also here in this area on the north Atlantic,

over Iceland, over Greenland, over northern part of Canada,

we always have to have in mind airports where you can go down

just in case of something happens,

in case of emergency or whatsoever.

[Narrator] Unplanned diversions can force passengers

to make a speedy exit.

FAA regulations call for planes in trouble

to be emptied in 90 seconds flat--

even A380s.

Goodrich, located in Phoenix, Arizona,

was already well-versed in building evacuation slides

for large passenger planes.

But when airbus approached them about the A380,

they needed to think big.

[Tony Pope] The evacuation of the aircraft

was one of the main challenges for the A380

because of the upper deck slides, how high they were,

and getting people down the slides safely.

[Narrator] 2,400 square feet of high-strength urethane fabric

is cut and bonded together by hand

to fashion one giant slide.

When inflated they need to be massive,

but in flight they need to take up as little space as possible.

[Tony] It's 55 feet long, an A380 upper deck slide,

and it's amazing that we can go from this slide

all the way over to this packed slide

and get it into this small of a space right here.

[Narrator] Packing them up is a chore.

The 180-pound slide must fit into a tiny slot

at the base of the door.

[Man] One, two, three.

[Narrator] Whatever it takes.

Before they can be installed on an A380,

every slide is tested

in conditions that replicate a real world emergency.

Right down to the freezing temperatures

the slides can be at after an emergency descent

from the ice cold air at 30,000 feet.

[Man] Ready for deployment.

[Man 2] Three! Two! One!

[Brittany Jasinski] This one was a success.

It inflated in time, all the lights are on,

the pressure was correct,

and there's also someone

who was able to slide down the slide perfectly

without getting hurt.

[Narrator] Back in the air,

Juergen's A380 is cruising into Canadian airspace

weighing 77 tons less than it did at takeoff.

Its engines are sipping fuel

at the rate of one gallon per passenger

for every 60 miles flown.

Meanwhile in San Francisco's,

preparations are in full swing for the A380's arrival.

[Denise Stevens] We know that this is going to be

the first one ready, so we'll plan it accordingly.

[Narrator] Denise Stevens is a Lufthansa operations agent

about to experience a watershed moment in her career.

After weeks of training,

she'll be in charge of looking after the A380

while it's on the ground.

She has a tough act to follow--

her colleagues in Frankfurt are among the world's best.

[Denise] Okay, so, we just have to figure out

what our game plan is today,

because this is unusual, this is not a typical day.

[Narrator] Assisting Denise is Alkan Arkadas,

a 12-year veteran at San Francisco's

who knows that today they'll be making history.

[Alkan Arkadas] All of them no overhangs.

Okay, thank you. Thanks.

[Denise] You need the voucher?

[Alkan] It's a big day, it's a big lady.

495 passengers.

[Denise] The plane's coming in in a little over an hour.

[Narrator] Denise and her team will have just two hours

to turn the giant around and send it back to Europe.

Time will be tight, and her cast of rookies

will need to bring their "a" game to make it happen.

[Controller] Lufthansa 454, say mach number.

[Harald] Lufthansa 454, mach decimal 84.

[Narrator] For the last nine hours

Juergen and his crew have relied on

the A380's cockpit automation to monitor their progress.

Every 15 minutes

those same computers have also been quietly updating

maintenance engineers back in Frankfurt

about the jet's performance.

Lufthansa's A380s are checked daily

in a state-of-the-art facility built exclusively for the fleet.

[alarm squealing]

[Narrator] Tonight, Thorston Wachsmann and his team

have just 10 hours to inspect one

before it leaves for Tokyo in the morning.

[Thorston Wachsmann] Today, we're having on this aircraft

from the start of work, five people at the aircraft.

We've got a whole bunch of work to do

because there are many jobs between our weekly check.

[Narrator] The goal is to use the A380's self-monitoring

to be proactive,

fixing snags before they become major issues.

[Marcus Fritzsche] Yeah, we can see any failure

that has occurred during flight,

we can see that and check it.

[Narrator] Right now he's chasing down a cooling problem

the system has detected in the cabin.

Below the wings,

Patrick Jung has discovered a more serious issue--

one that could keep this jet from ever leaving the ground.

[Patrick Jung] We have a leakage on the hydraulic hose up there.

[Thorston] Whenever there is a leak, we have to look for it.

It needs attention right away.

[Narrator] The hoses are the veins

of two separate hydraulic systems

that move control surfaces on the wings and tail.

Adjusting their position allows the plane to climb,

descend and make turns.

Small pumps, titanium couplings and Kevlar hoses

combine to make the hydraulic systems

both lightweight and compact.

But they must stand up to intense pressures

when called on to maneuver the A380.

[Thorston] You cannot detect a hydraulic leak

via the electronics.

You would have to place sensors everywhere around the aircraft,

and that's impossible.

[Narrator] Luckily for Patrick,

the hose is easy to reach and the leak is an isolated problem.

It's an unplanned repair,

but something the team can accommodate in the shift.

An hour later, Marcus has solved his cabin cooling problem

by replacing a faulty switch

and has moved on to a tire inspection.

[Marcus] You've got so many tests you can do

where the computer tells you right away

which part is defect and what you have to change.

But in this case, the computer cannot see the tire's worn

or there's a damage on the tire.

[Narrator] The massive tires are too valuable to throw away.

This one will be resurfaced as many as eight times

before it finally gets sent for scrap.

[Narrator] Hours before the A380 is to return to service,

Patrick has installed a new Kevlar hose.

But he can't send it back to work

until he brings the system up to full pressure

and checks for leaks.

[Patrick] That was the final step,

because now we know that the system pressure,

which is normally on this tiny hose,

reaches it now,

and now the aircraft can go back into service.

[Controller] Lufthansa 454, reduce mach speed 2-4 sequence.

[Harald] Lufthansa 454...

[Narrator] Airborne for almost 10 hours,

Juergen and his 495 passengers

are now approaching the northern border of California

and running ahead of schedule.

Pilots new to the A380 must take a leap of faith

and learn to trust the automation

that controls most of the flight.

[Juergen] The technology on this aircraft

is the latest, most sophisticated one.

As a matter of fact, that's the first paperless cockpit,

and the big difference, compared to other aircraft,

not regarding for weight and for size of the aircraft,

is the way how you communicate with this aircraft.

[Narrator] Learning to communicate with the A380

requires 70 hours of rigorous pilot training

in a simulator

that needs to replicate the real thing...

Flawlessly.

C.A.E. in Montreal, Canada,

built the very first A380 simulator.

Their customers hand over $20 million per sim,

expecting it to handle exactly like a real jet

that costs almost 20 times more.

[Eric Vernier] The first scenario is going to be

a landing on an icy runway.

[Narrator] Engineer Eric Vernier and pilot John Moorhouse

are putting a new A380 simulator to the test

before it's delivered to another airline.

[Automated voice] 50, 40, 30, 20, retard.

[Narrator] And every time the system crashes...

[John Moorhouse] We're running into something here.

-[Eric] Yes. -[John] Yeah.

[Narrator] ...it's back to the drawing board.

[Eric] Maybe the database is not up to date.

[John] No.

[Eric] Should have some correction to that.

[John] Yeah.

[Narrator] The A380 flight deck features

over 1,500 pieces of software

and over a million lines of code.

The thought that the computers can freeze

or that the screens could go blank

might make passengers nervous.

But Eric's not concerned.

[Eric] If, let's say, we have absolutely no screen available,

we still have all the documentation available

through the, what you call the NSS,

and there's two laptop for backup.

[Narrator] The laptops allow the pilots to reconnect

into the A380's computer network,

as well as providing all the technical assistance

they could ever need.

[Eric] All fire, push button off.

[Narrator] After Eric's made some adjustments,

John wants another crack at landing on the icy runway...

[John] We're going to see how long the landing roll is

with maximum auto brake on a slippery runway.

[Narrator] This time the scenario

plays out a little better.

[John] There's 40 knots, and it is not good.

I'll put it on full manual brakes.

Try some reverse.

Not bad, off the runway, but on the overrun.

[Narrator] Once their tests are completed,

they'll deliver the simulator to a waiting customer

whose pilots can get the experience they need

before flying with real passengers.

[Controller] Lufthansa 454, reset the transponders for 3263.

[Juergen] Ladies and gentlemen, your captain once again,

and welcome to California.

[Narrator] Back on board the historic flight

to San Francisco's,

the flight crew expects a routine approach and landing.

[Denise] First container you're going to load

that direction as usual.

[Narrator] But on the ground in San Francisco's,

it's anything but routine.

[Alkan] 11 o'clock meet here.

[Man] 11 o'clock, ok.

[Narrator] In less than one hour

Denise and her crew will be unloading and reloading

San Francisco's first revenue-generating A380 flight.

Balancing the tons of cargo, luggage and passengers

is critical.

And it's up to Denise to get it right.

[Denise] I think the difference is going to be

with the load planning,

because it's a very nose-heavy aircraft.

[Alkan] So, but then again... Two, four, six, eight.

[Narrator] The ground crew has two massive cargo holds

for a mix of luggage containers and pallets.

The large one in the back holds up to 35,000 pounds.

The front hold is slightly smaller

and takes 26,000 pounds.

[Denise] Yes, we need 16 spots for the containers.

Can we put three in the front and two in the back,

does that work?

[Narrator] Lufthansa mechanic Tshen Yue Cheung

has worked on A380s before,

but he's still concerned about turning the plane around

in such a short time.

[Tshen Yue Cheung] Normally, it has only two hours-15

ground time in San Francisco's,

which is a very tight schedule.

[Narrator] The crew on the ground would like more time

with the plane,

but Juergen's doing everything he can to delay his arrival.

The welcome party has been planned

around an on-time arrival,

and Juergen does not want to disappoint.

[Controller] Lufthansa 454, maintain final two-niner zero.

[Narrator] But their fate rests

with busy air traffic controllers

who have other priorities.

[Controller] Lufthansa 454, maintain 280 knots.

Lufthansa 454, I understand you need to delay

for landing at 1850.

[Juergen] The reason is that a lot of media are waiting

for this A380 and if we are too early,

we spoil their day, you know?

[Narrator] He's hoping to delay by flying a sight-seeing route

over San Francisco's bay and the golden gate bridge.

[Controller] Lufthansa 454, make it right 360 for delay,

direct point Reyes.

[Narrator] But instead, they are sent out over the Pacific

to join other aircraft lining up to land.

[Juergen] It's actually not what we want.

[radio chatter]

[Controller] Maintain 5,000... Niner-five.

[Narrator] Another attempt--

and this time they get a better result.

[Controller] Lufthansa 454, roger,

I'll just take you out at the present heading

and then we'll get you in there at 1850.

[Narrator] Juergen and Harald prepare for landing.

Statistically speaking, it's the riskiest phase of the flight.

In minutes, the A380's massive landing gear

will need to absorb the crushing impact

of 370,000 pounds of airplane.

At the Goodrich manufacturing facility

outside Toronto, Canada,

engineers building the gear shoulder a huge responsibility.

They make landing gear for everything

from small private jets to Boeing 777s.

But nothing comes close to the size and complexity of the A380.

[Jamie Macaskill] When you get into the A380,

it's just so much bigger.

So we had to come up with unique ways of building it

and maintaining the quality built into the product

at this level

because of the sheer magnitude size of it.

[Narrator] In addition to the nose gear,

the A380 needs four undercarriages

to support the fuselage.

The body gear have six wheels

while the wing gear feature four.

Together they spread out the weight,

allowing the A380 to use any runways

already capable of handling 747s.

Making the A380's landing gear strong

is only half the equation.

To meet fuel efficiency targets,

the gear needs to weigh as little as possible.

[Nabeel Kamel] There's always a tradeoff

between weight and cost.

Whenever you're trying to reduce weight,

it always happens to be more expensive.

So we've had to use some more expensive

and more exotic materials like titanium.

[Man] Just locking her in.

Okay, we're tight.

I'm good at this end.

Okay, I think we're good.

[Narrator] The original raw steel

used for the main body gear arrives weighing 13,000 pounds.

It's precision-sculpted down to a slim 1,900 pounds

by the time it's ready for assembly.

[Randy Corey] When we started on the forging,

we were looking at a wall thickness

that was nearly five inches in thickness.

Now to the finished product, we're down under an inch.

And the product is shaped

to minimize the weight of the product

but maximize the strength.

[Narrator] The entire assembly process takes seven months.

Eventually the pieces are tested to ensure they can withstand

the constant cycle of takeoffs and landings.

[Randy] It's designed on airbus to go 12 years of service,

and we're trying to move to 14

to have a further life after that time period.

[Controller] Lufthansa 454, super nor cal approach.

[Narrator] Back in the air,

Juergen is minutes from touchdown.

[Controller] Lufthansa 454,

super contact San Francisco's tower 120.5.

[Narrator] On the ground, emergency vehicles are rallied.

They'll offer a traditional salute

to mark the arrival of Lufthansa's first A380

to San Francisco's.

[Controller] Lufthansa 454, super San Francisco's tower,

good afternoon, welcome!

Runway 28 right, clear to land.

Wind 29017. Caution, wake turbulence.

Heavy 767 is short final.

[Juergen] Gear down.

[Harald] Gear down.

[Juergen] Flaps full. [Harald] Flaps full.

[Narrator] In 2000, long before the first A380 was built,

San Francisco's christened a new terminal

capable of accommodating a super jumbo.

[Automated voice] 100.

[Narrator] Over a decade later,

their first paying customer is pulling in.

[Automated voice] 30, 20, retard, retard.

[Controller] Lufthansa 454, super terrific,

looks like a nice speed, just cut back.

Have a good day.

[Narrator] It's a moment for celebration...

[Juergen] Off.

[Narrator] ...and a once-in-a-lifetime photo op.

For Juergen and his crew, the job is over.

But the clock is ticking for Denise and her team.

They've got just over two hours to unload and inspect the plane,

then refuel, reload, and send it back to Frankfurt.

[Denise] It's a challenge to put all three jet bridges on.

We've never done this before.

So it may take them a while.

[Narrator] First day or not,

the passengers inside expect to leave on time,

and it's up to Denise to see they do.

Inside the terminal,

dignitaries and crew are celebrating

the first A380 flight from Frankfurt to San Francisco's.

The prospect of another 35,000 visitors a year

coming into the city isn't lost

on board of supervisors president David Chiu.

[David Chiu] This means economic stimulus

of over 1,300 new direct and indirect jobs a year,

over $100 million in new business revenue to the city.

[Carsten] To San Francisco's!

Happy landings!

[applause]

[Narrator] Outside on the ramp, it's all business.

[Man] Hold the ladder!

[Narrator] While refueling begins,

Tshen Yue checks the landing gear and tires.

[Tshen Yue] If the wheels have some damages,

we have to fix it and change the wheel before the next flight.

[Denise] Yeah, 'cause the engine's in the way, anyway, so.

[Narrator] To reach the A380's upper deck

requires a specially designed catering truck.

It's the driver's first time

attempting to get the lift into the right position.

But after a few attempts-- success.

And the loading begins.

Denise moves on to the cargo holds.

[Denise] One, two, three, four,

five, six, seven, eight containers.

This position here is going to be empty.

[Narrator] And Tshen Yue has moved on to inspect the flaps.

With just a few minutes until boarding begins,

Denise has the end in sight.

[Denise] We're getting close to the end,

we just have to finish loading the containers

in the forward hold and in the rear hold.

By then, they should have all the passengers,

and we'll close it up and send this baby back to Frankfurt.

[Magali Durand] Jordan is a party of four.

[Narrator] In the terminal, the celebration is over.

The crew at the gate is putting everything they've got

into loading 460 passengers

on the first A380 flight to Frankfurt.

[Magali] Check in?

[Narrator] Magali Durand is Lufthansa's check-in manager,

and some of her passengers are in danger

of losing their place in history.

[Magali] So right now, I can see with the time,

we're missing 24, more or less.

[Narrator] Missing passengers can mean a substantial delay

and send Denise's crew scrambling.

[Denise] If a passenger doesn't show up,

we have to pull all the containers out,

pull the bag off, and put it back on,

and then push the plane back before departure time.

[Narrator] But finally all are present and accounted for--

and just in time-- the doors are closed.

[Magali] Woof. [laughs]

We're done!

[Narrator] Outside it's a final boarding call

for the last to load.

Two small dogs heading to Europe on holiday.

[dogs bark]

Denise delivers the final numbers to the captain

so he can verify his weight and balance calculations.

[Denise] Okay, so load sheet number one,

you have an lnc of minus two passengers in economy,

minus 200, plus four bags in compartment five, plus 60.

You, too, see you next time.

Have fun flying home.

[Narrator] For the San Francisco's ramp crew,

it's been a day of firsts.

But for the A380 to be successful,

the mad scramble to unload and reload

will need to become standard operating procedure

at airports worldwide.

[Alkan] It was good.

This is the biggest ever made.

And it's going to be challenge all around, to be honest.

It's just the size of it.

It's going to be challenge for everybody, every day.

It's just the way it is.

[Denise] Everyone gets excited about having a new aircraft,

you know, especially, you know, when it's big.

So, you know, we've got to think a little more.

But nothing that we can't handle.

[Controller] Lufthansa 469, super runway three right

cleared for takeoff.

[Narrator] The A380 has forever changed

how passenger aircraft are built, flown and maintained.

Although only a fraction of the 250 on order

are flying commercially,

its impact on the industry has been dramatic.

[radio chatter]

[Heiner] The complete fly by wire of the 380,

the complete electronical control of the aircraft,

the complete monitoring of all the functions by computers.

I think that is on the 380 absolutely on the highest level

compared to other aircraft of the world.

[Narrator] As Lufthansa's A380s conquer new destinations,

it's a safe bet that to compete for customers

other airlines will need to either go big or go home.