Airbus Group International head Christian Scherer will replac Patrick de Castelbajac as CEO of Franco-Italian turboprop maker ATR in November, an ATR spokesman confirmed to AIN Wednesday. De Castelbajac’s departure comes halfway through his expected term at the helm of ATR, whose CEO position alternates every four years between joint shareholders Airbus Group and Italy’s Leonardo-Finmeccanica. De Castelbajac will move to Airbus to become the group’s secretary and chief of staff.
The move comes amid a corporate restructuring at Airbus that will see the group structure integrate with Airbus Commercial Aircraft effective January 2017. Under the plan, Tom Enders will continue to serve as CEO while current Airbus Commercial Airplanes chief executive Fabrice Bregier will become COO of the group. Bregier will at the same time assume the title of president of Airbus Commercial Airplanes. The move marks another step in an effort by the European manufacturer to reduce costs that have compromised the profitability of several Airbus programs, including the A350 widebody.
The turboprop maker did not offer a reason for de Castelbajac’s departure, but statements by the ATR chief executive expressing his skepticism about the wisdom of Leonardo-Finmeccanica’s reported interest in introducing a new 100-seat turboprop without the help of Airbus appeared at odds with sentiments expressed by senior executives of the Italian company.
In fact, during an interview in the spring with AIN, de Castelbajac dismissed suggestions that Leonardo-Finmeccanica could pursue the project on its own given ATR’s long association with such an influential industry player as Airbus.
“There are two legs we are standing on and I think we need both,” he said. “I don’t think it would be reasonable for any shareholder to go on its own. Because our position in the market is quite a strong one, so to say basically ‘I disregard all this capital I’ve built over the years’…I’m not sure it’s the right thing to do.
“Second…Airbus has amazing know-how in terms of developing new aircraft, so to say we will do a regional aircraft without Airbus, it is not something I would recommend,” concluded de Castelbajac. “My belief is one day ATR will do it, but there is no point in rushing.”
