A release was shared with employees at Bombardier today providing a sense of how the partnership is developing. “The plans for our partnership with the C Series Aircraft Program are progressing well. The approval process is moving ahead faster than expected and as a result, the transaction is set to conclude by the middle of this year.”
The team to lead the partnership once all the details are set is as follows:
- Philippe Balducchi: currently Head of Performance Management, Airbus Commercial Aircraft will become CEO.
- Florent Massou: currently Head of A380 Final assembly line in Toulouse will become Head of Program.
- Sylvain Leclerc: currently Head of Operations and Procurement C Series Aircraft and Mirabel Site will become Head of Operations reporting to Florent Massou.
- Rob Dewar: currently Vice President C Series Aircraft Program will become Head of Customer Support and Head of Engineering.
- Magnus Wallauer: currently Director for Operational Performance at the President’s Office, Airbus Commercial Aircraft will become Head of Integration, Transformation & Information Management.
- Michael Kollig: currently Vice President Information Services, Bombardier will become Head of Information Technologies (IT) reporting to Magnus Wallauer.
- Tony Marcovecchio: currently Vice President Finance, Bombardier will become Head of Finance.
- Francis Lecomte: currently Vice President Contracts and Legal Services, Bombardier will become Head of Legal and Compliance.
- Josianne Caron: currently Director Human Resources, C Series, and Mirabel site will become Head of Human Resources.
- Marcella Cortellazzi: currently Head of Employee Communications, Military Aircraft, Airbus Defence and Space will become Head of Communications.
- David Dufrenois: currently Head of A380 Platform will become Head of Sales. (Head of Sales also reports to Eric Schulz, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer and the Head of Procurement to Klaus Richter, Airbus Chief Procurement Officer)
- Philippe Alary-Tossaint: currently Vice President Procurement Contracts, Airbus will act as interim Head of Procurement.
It looks like the C Series leadership team announcement shows that Bombardier and Airbus are aligned and will be ready to hit the ground running when the deal closes. Moreover, it looks like a strong and experienced team. There is a good mix of leaders from both Bombardier and Airbus (which promotes the sense of a real partnership).
Going forward Bombardier will refocus on its regional aircraft programs. Fred Cromer will continue to lead the Bombardier regional aircraft business once the C Series partnership closes. In the coming weeks, Fred will announce his leadership team and the organizational structure for Bombardier’s regional aircraft business.
