Story ID: GPairbusexecs12162014
Airbus Undergoes Top Management Shakeup
By: Gregory Polek
Caption: Tom Williams to replace Günter Butschek as COO 
Word Count: 265
Airbus Group on Tuesday announced the resignation of Airbus chief operating officer Günter Butschek as part of a management shakeup that will see executive vice president of programs Tom Williams take his place and become a member of the parent company’s Group Executive Committee. Didier Evrard, current head of the A350 XWB program, has agreed to succeed Williams and become a member of the Executive Committee of Airbus. He remains A350 XWB program director until the company appoints a successor, while Klaus Richter, chief procurement officer of Airbus and Airbus Group, joins the Group Executive Committee of Airbus Group and becomes the national representative for Airbus in Germany.

“I regret Günter’s resignation,” said Airbus Group CEO Tom Enders in a statement. “He joined us in 2011, at a time when we were facing a number of challenges in our industrial strategy and in operations. Since then, Airbus has benefitted greatly from his automotive-rich experience and personal leadership. I thank him for all he brought to the company, among which the Airbus Operating System is only one of his achievements.”

The management shuffle comes less than a week after shares in the company plunged by some 15 percent in two days following warnings of flat earnings in 2016, the prospect of another A330 production cut and the potential cessation of A380 production as early as 2018. The slide ended only after executives sought to reassure investors that improvement such as a new engine option and a stretch of the superjumbo’s fuselage would guarantee its relevance into the distant future.