Troubled European aerospace giant EADS has taken two more key steps in the rebuilding of its battered operation - naming Eurocopter chief executive Fabrice Brégier as the number two man at Airbus, and extending its chief financial officer (CFO) Hans-Peter Ring's duties to include becoming CFO of Airbus as well.
EADS says the moves are intended "to further improve transparency within the group".
As expected, Frenchman Brégier, 43, becomes chief operating officer of Airbus - the post held by Gustav Humbert under Noël Forgeard - reporting to recently-apointed chief executive Louis Gallois, and is already a member of the EADS executive committee.
He has been a rising star for some time - heading the highly successful Eurocopter operation since June 2005, and previously running the similarly strong MBDA missiles business.
He is replaced at Eurocopter by his effective deputy Lutz Bertling, 44, - currently chief executive of Eurocopter Deutschland - who joins the EADS executive committee and will report to EADS chief executive Tom Enders.
The current CFO of Airbus, Andreas Sperl, 59, is to move to an unspecified "operational function within the EADS group" as Ring, 55, takes over.
In a statement EADS also says: "The EADS board has decided that the EADS joint chief executives Tom Enders and Louis Gallois will regularly report on all major projects, programmes and matters of importance - including Airbus - to the two EADS chairmen Manfred Bischoff and Arnaud Lagardère to better prepare board discussions and decisions. this does not change the joint responsibility of the two chief executives for all EADS businesses, or the powers of the board.
Bischoff and Lagardère add in a joint statement: "These changes in the management structure are further steps to improve the corporate governance and increase efficiency within the group."
Source: FlightGlobal.com
