Bloomberg
Airbus SE Chief Executive Officer Tom Enders will take control of sales and marketing for the company’s planemaking division in a move that dilutes the role of chief operating officer and commercial-aircraft president Fabrice Bregier.
The change comes after Airbus implemented a shift to a single corporate structure that folds the civil arm more closely into the group. That should make the company “less bureaucratic for speedier decision-making and execution,†Enders wrote.
Bregier will focus on program development and steering Airbus through its biggest-ever ramp-up of jetliner production, Enders said. As COO, Bregier will also have oversight of a wider portfolio that includes helicopters, missiles, satellites and defense electronics, and will lead a group-wide digitalization initiative known as Quantum.
“However, due to the heavy operational challenges in our largest revenue-driving business, and to slightly rebalance our internal burden-sharing, I will lead sales and marketing,†Enders said.
Airbus has undergone a series of managerial and structural changes as the aircraft industry enters a period of slower sales and ramps up to deliver a record backlog of commercial aircraft. A handbook that dictates a “single Airbus code†will be finalized this summer and distributed in September. It will detail changes
to the existing governance
structure and the planemaker’s
corporate culture.