Airbus Names Rolls-Royce's Eric Schulz as New Head of Sales
November 28 2017 - 3:06AM
Dow Jones News
By Robert Wall
LONDON--European plane maker Airbus SE (AIR.FR) kicked off a new
era in its battle against Boeing Co. (BA) on Tuesday by naming Eric
Schulz, a top executive at engine supplier Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC
(RR.LN), as its next airliner sales chief.
Mr. Schulz, 54, ran Rolls-Royce's civil-aircraft engine
programs, and will join Airbus at the end of January as executive
vice president for sales, marketing and contracts reporting to
Chief Executive Tom Enders.
Mr. Schulz will replace industry legend John Leahy, 67, who has
been the Airbus sales boss since 1994.
During his years at Airbus--which included a decade running
sales in the U.S. for Airbus before taking the top job--Mr. Leahy
has become the world's most successful plane salesman. Airbus had
sold fewer than 400 planes at the time Mr. Leahy joined the
company, and since then it has sold about 17,000 more.
Mr. Leahy helped turn Airbus into the world's largest plane
maker when the European company in 2003 delivered more planes than
Boeing. The U.S. plane manufacturer returned to the top spot in
2012.
Mr. Leahy will retire after a transition period, Airbus said,
while Mr. Enders called his contribution to the company's
commercial aircraft business "epic."
The hiring of Mr. Schulz represents the second time in recent
history that one of the world's biggest plane makers has tapped an
executive from one of its aircraft engine suppliers for a top
post.
Boeing last year named Kevin McAllister to run its commercial
plane business. Mr. McAllister previously ran the aviation services
for General Electric Co. (GE).
At Rolls-Royce, Mr. Schulz oversaw engine programs powering
Airbus long-range jets. Rolls-Royce also offers an engine for
Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.
Mr. Schulz takes over as sales chief at a time when Airbus has
amassed a huge backlog of plane orders that have yet to be built,
with the backlog for some types stretching past 2025. However, the
transition also comes at a difficult time. The flagship A380
superjumbo, which can seat more than 600 passengers, has sold
poorly, and lack of demand has forced Airbus to lower production to
a level where it costs more to build the A380 than it can charge
for it.
Airbus is also embroiled in regulatory controversy from
irregularities in aircraft sales. British and French authorities
are investigating the company for its failure to disclose the use
of middlemen in some plane deals. U.S. authorities are also
scrutinizing the undeclared use of such third-party brokers, though
with relation to military deals.
Rolls-Royce has already begun the search for a replacement for
Mr. Schulz, who will remain at the company until the end of the
year, it said.
Rolls-Royce also said that program director Chris Young will
immediately take oversight of commercial and strategic matters for
civil aerospace. That change is necessary because some of
Rolls-Royce's discussions include Airbus competitors.
Write to Robert Wall at robert.wall@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 28, 2017 02:51 ET (07:51 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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