Airbus is currently looking at creating a separate executive position within the company to focus on the aircraft manufacturing side of the business.
According to a report by Reuters, citing people familiar with the matter, Airbus wants to create the new position to free up current chief executive officer (CEO) Guillaume Fuary to focus on strategic matters. Meanwhile, the newly created executive position would focus on everything that relates to Airbus’ commercial aircraft production.
The sources also told the publication that the new position would have to be approved by the company’s board, which is not a given.
Currently, Airbus’ main rival Boeing operates under a similar structure, with David Calhoun leading the planemaker as CEO, and Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) president and CEO Stan Deal reporting to him. Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS) CEO Theodore Colbert and Boeing Global Services (BGS) president and CEO Stephanie Pope also directly report to Calhoun.
Faury was the president of Airbus Commercial Aircraft, succeeding Fabrice Bregier, who exited the European aircraft manufacturer in February 2018. Eventually, the company’s board of directors selected Faury to replace the now-former Airbus CEO Tom Enders following the company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in April 2019.
Since then, Faury has had a lot on his plate, including the COVID-19 downturn and the current supply chain crisis, which has affected every major aircraft manufacturer globally.
During the latest update in May 2023, when the European planemaker announced its Q1 2023 results, Faury said that the operating environment at the time was “adverse” with “persistent tensions in the supply chain”.
The company noted that aircraft deliveries in 2023 will be more backloaded, meaning that Airbus will deliver more aircraft during the second half of the year. During H1 2023, its monthly delivery rates continued to improve, with the company handing over 72 aircraft in June 2023, compared to 54 in April 2023.
Airbus delivered 60 aircraft in June 2022.