Airbus SE yesterday confirmed a top management shake-up, following weeks of turmoil at the European planemaker.
Chief operating officer and planemaking chief Fabrice Bregier is to step down in February next year, while chief executive Tom Enders is not to seek a new mandate when his term expires in 2019, the company said.
Guillaume Faury, currently chief executive of Airbus Helicopters, is to succeed Bregier as president of the main commercial aircraft division, the company said in a statement.
The board had acted to secure an orderly succession at the world’s second-largest planemaker, which has been beset by rivalries and abrupt changes in the past, Airbus said.
Next year, the board is to assess internal and external candidates for the CEO role with a view to announcing Enders’ successor in good time for confirmation at the 2019 annual shareholder meeting, the statement said.
Bregier, a 56-year-old Frenchman who has long been seen as the natural heir to Enders, has told the board that he does not intend to be part of the selection process for the CEO position in 2019, and is therefore to step down in February to “pursue other interests,” the statement said.
However, Bregier hinted at the long-running battle with Enders over status and responsibility, which many people in the company have said contributed to his unscheduled departure, listing the various titles he had held while running the planes unit.
Enders said he would work to ensure a smooth transition.
The shakeup is being carried out amid ongoing bribery investigations related to the use of intermediaries in military and commercial airplane sales.
Enders, who turns 59 on Thursday, has warned the probes might lead to “significant penalties” and has been trying to convince investigators in France and the UK that Airbus is serious about reining in improprieties as it works to get past controversy.
Airbus is due to hold its annual investor meeting in April after reporting full-year earnings on Feb. 15, when it might provide an update on the bribery claims.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
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