Fabrice Bregier has been announced as the successor to Tom Enders as president and CEO of Airbus, following Enders appointment as CEO of parent company EADS.

Bregier, the former chief operating officer (COO), began his five-year tenure today by appointing the Airbus executive committee, which included Guenter Butschek as the new COO, in charge of operations, engineering, procurement, quality & lean, IT & communications technology.

John Leahy remains COO of the customers division, Tom Williams is executive vice president (EVP) of Programmes; Charles Champion as EVP of engineering and Domingo Urena-Raso is head of Airbus Military. Three EC Members have an EADS corporate responsibility in addition to their main Airbus function: chief financial officer (CFO) Harald Wilhelm, the EVP of human resources Thierry Baril and the EVP of procurement Klaus Richter.

The A350 XWB programme, lead by Didier Evrard, will continue to report directly to Fabrice Bregier.

“Our target for the next five years is to make Airbus even stronger in developing and manufacturing the world’s best aircraft,” said Bregier. “We remain focussed on our business objectives and while we implement some changes, we foresee overall continuity. Our priorities are providing stability for the production ramp-up, driving integration, and expanding our global footprint. For me it is paramount to continue building on the strong skills and values Airbus has established.”