The super-wealthy are already in competition for who has the biggest, most-blinged out yacht. So why not planes? Joe Sharkey last covered the issue of “mine plane needs to be bigger” in the Times with a story on how some of the biggest ballers were trading up from those cramped, tiny corporate jets to converted commercial jets, including 747s.

Of course it was only a matter of time until someone set their eyes on the new generation of superjumbojets. At least one has already been ordered by a wealthy individual, so you know more are on the way. The price tag for an Airbus A380—the biggest passenger jet ever built—is merely $310 million—which is only four times what the average super yacht costs (if there is such thing as an average super yacht). But that’s for the stripped down version—getting it up to mega mogul speed will take around $100 million

(By the way, if this sort of story sounds vaguely familiar, it’s probably because you read it before on ESPN.com.)

It Can Hold 853 Passengers, but Why Should You Share? [New York Times]

We've had a lot of fun with the troubles European aircraft manufacturer Airbus has had with its giant A380 superjumbo jet but we've never actually seen one. Today we'll get out chance. The first A380 to fly in the United States is scheduled to land at JFK International Airport at half-past noon today. Catch it now because the way those customer orders are being canceled, you may never seen one again.

Lufthansa flying Airbus A380 superjumbo takes off for JFK on first flight to America [AP]

The man who led Airbus’s super jumbo-jet program whose troubles this June helped crush the share price in its parent company, EADS, is finally out. His departure follows the resignation of Airbus’s chief executive, Gustav Humbert, and the French co-chairman of the parent, Noel Forgeard. Whether or not the super jumbo-jet ever pays off for the company, it has been an absolute disaster for most of the executives involved in it.

Note the headline from the International Herald Tribune story below. Shouldn't it work exactly the opposite way. Retention of managers who make bad decisions and fail to execute on company plans should add to a company's woes. The fact that executives have left or been forced out, however, at least indicates that the company is taking its problems seriously…if a bit slowly.

Executive shuffle adds to Airbus's woes [International Herald Tribune]

Noel Foregeard, co-chief executive of Airbus parent company EADS, has admitted knowing about problems with the new superjumbo A380 for months before the public announcement that sent the price of EADS tumbling 26% when announced earlier this week. He maintains, however, that he only learned of the problems after he sold shares of the company in March.

French regulators are "probing" into the matter. Why does that sound so dirty?

EADS executive aware of Airbus A380 delay [MarketWatch]