Fabrice Bregier appointed new CEO of Airbus

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Fabrice Bregier, previously the Chief Operating Officer of Airbus, has taken over as Airbus President and CEO. He succeeds Tom Enders, who has now taken over as EADS CEO.

Bregier starts his five-year tenure today with the appointment of the Airbus Executive Committee. Guenter Butschek is the new Airbus Chief Operating Officer, in charge of Operations, Engineering, Procurement, Quality & Lean, IT & Communications Technology. John Leahy remains Chief Operating Officer – Customers, Tom Williams, Executive Vice President (EVP) Programmes; Charles Champion, EVP Engineering and Domingo Urena-Raso Head of Airbus Military.

Three EC Members have in addition to their main Airbus function also an EADS corporate responsibility: Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Harald Wilhelm, the EVP Human Resources Thierry Baril and the EVP Procurement Klaus Richter.

The A350 XWB programme, lead by Didier Evrard, will continue to report directly to Fabrice Bregier, Airbus said in a statement.
“My team and I are pleased and honoured to taking over the leadership of a company in good shape. Our target for the next five years is to make Airbus even stronger in developing and manufacturing the world’s best aircraft. We remain focussed on our business objectives and while we implement some changes, we foresee overall continuity. Our priorities are providing stability for the production ramp-up, driving integration, and expanding our global footprint”, said Bregier on his appointment. “For me it is paramount to continue building on the strong skills and values Airbus has established.”

Bregier now has the responsibility of getting the latest Airbus model, the A350, into the air and dealing with hairline cracks in the A380. Although Airbus is leading the world market for large passenger jets, Boeing is very close behind.

Meanwhile, at the EADS annual general meeting in Amsterdam yesterday, Enders pledged to increase the profitability of the group. Enders is the first German to take the helm of EADS.