European aerospace companies Airbus Defence and Space and Safran have announced that Alain Charmeau has been nominated as CEO of their newly-formed 50-50 space launcher joint venture.
Charmeau is currently the head of space systems operations at Airbus…
European aerospace companies Airbus Defence and Space and Safran have announced that Alain Charmeau has been nominated as CEO of their newly-formed 50-50 space launcher joint venture.
Charmeau is currently the head of space systems operations at Airbus DS. He joined Airbus (under its former name EADS) in 1980, and in 2005 was made CEO of its space transportation business.
The chairman of the new company will be Marc Ventre, the deputy CEO and COO of Safran.
Besides the chairman and CEO, both Airbus Group and Safran will each nominate two additional directors to the board.
Following the initial announcement of the JV by Airbus Group and Safran on 16 June 2014, these management decisions form the basis for the corporate governance of the new company.
Charmeau will propose further senior management positions in September.
Commenting on the appointment, Tom Enders, CEO of Airbus Group, said: “Our nominations today are an important milestone in the creation of the joint venture and towards a more integrated, more efficient and hence more profitable launcher business in Europe.
“The management is tasked with a clear mission: to improve competitiveness of the future European Launcher business. This objective is without alternative for me – either, we fundamentally drive change in this sector or we risk becoming irrelevant very soon.”
