Airbus SE named Chief Commercial Officer Christian Scherer as head of its namesake civil aircraft division, returning to a dual Franco-German power structure that it abandoned for several years while Chief Executive Officer Guillaume Faury held both posts.
(Bloomberg) — Airbus SE named Chief Commercial Officer Christian Scherer as head of its namesake civil aircraft division, returning to a dual Franco-German power structure that it abandoned for several years while Chief Executive Officer Guillaume Faury held both posts.
The separation aims to give Scherer oversight of Airbus’s most important business, while Faury gains more room to focus on “the strategic, global and transformational agenda of Airbus,” the company said in a statement.
Scherer, a company lifer who has held various positions inside the company, will take over the position at the start of the year. Among his challenges will be to straighten out persistent supply-chain snags that have bedeviled production and forced Airbus to twice downgrade its delivery targets last year.
So far this year, Airbus has said it’s on track with its goals, and the company has won some key sales campaigns, including 50 A350 jets announced yesterday with Air France-KLM.
The new management structure is reminiscent of the previous setup under Faury’s predecessor, Tom Enders, who ran the overall company while Fabrice Bregier oversaw the planemaking division. Airbus also has helicopter and defense assets, each with dedicated leaders.
Naming Scherer to the de-facto No. 2 position restores a national equilibrium between French and German representation in key management positions. Such a balance was long closely guarded as the two national shareholders sought to make sure their voices were represented.
Airbus didn’t say if Scherer would keep his post as head of sales, or if his move would necessitate the appointment of a new chief commercial officer.
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