Airbus begins external search for new sales chief to replace John Leahy

Airbus has embarked on a fresh search for a sales chief to take over from soon-to-retire John Leahy as the aerospace group seeks a clean break from turmoil over investigations into the use of middlemen, said three people familiar with the plans.
Leahy's deputy, Executive Vice-President Kiran Rao, had been identified as Leahy's successor earlier this year, but his appointment to one of the industry's most visible jobs was never confirmed as Leahy's retirement slipped towards end-year.

Chief Executive Tom Enders has now decided to look outside the core part of the company in a bid to denote a fresh start, but Rao is not being targeted in the compliance investigation which centres mainly on a defunct headquarters team, the people said.

Rao confirmed he would not be in the running for the post.

"I can confirm I am no longer pursuing the position of commercial director and intend to concentrate on Airbus product strategy," Rao told Reuters.

An Airbus spokesman declined comment on personnel matters.

The search comes as the Airbus marketing machine is seen as demoralised as a result of British and French probes, which have also sparked a blanket internal investigation.

Enders told a recent sales meeting Leahy would stay till the year-end but failed to confirm Rao's appointment, leaving what insiders described as a sense of vacuum amid dwindling sales.
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Airbus Q3 operating profit down 4% to $811 mn

Europe's Airbus said on Tuesday third-quarter earnings fell by a sightly narrower-than-expected four per cent on lower aircraft deliveries and reaffirmed its forecasts as the fallout from an internal compliance review widened to the United States.

The world's second largest planemaker after Boeing posted quarterly core operating earnings of 697 million euros ($811 million), while revenues rose 2 per cent to 14.244 billion euros.

Markets had expected a weak quarter due to delays in commercial aircraft and a build-up of inventory.

Analysts on average expected third-quarter adjusted operating profit down 5.6 per cent at 690 million euros on revenues up 1.8 per cent at 14.2 billion, according to a Reuters survey.

Airbus said it was too early to predict the size of any fines resulting from ongoing corruption problems in the UK and France concerning the use of commissions in airplane sales, which have also triggered a sweeping internal investigation.

But it said it had now discovered inaccuracies in past declarations to the US State Department under part 130 of the US International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). The legislation concerns political contributions, fees and commissions.

($1 = 0.8595 euros)
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Airbus sells 140 planes worth $23 billion to China in one of its major deal

Airbus has signed an agreement to sell 140 aircraft to China, it said on Wednesday, in a deal worth almost $23 billion at list prices.

The agreement, signed during a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Germany, is for 100 A320 family aircraft and 40 A350 planes, Airbus said.

"It's one of the biggest deals that we've signed in a long time," Airbus Group Chief Executive Tom Enders told journalists after signing the deal in Berlin.

The planes will be purchased by state-owned China Aviation Supplies Holding Company, which will then allocate them to Chinese airlines.

The A320 planes will be a mixture of the older CEO and the new NEO version with revamped engines, while the majority of the A350 orders are for the -900 model. The deal is flexible pending negotiations with the airlines.

Enders said he expected up to 50 per cent of the A320 family planes would come from the Airbus final assembly line in China.

Enders was making his first public appearance since Airbus rolled out a new structure, completing a recent merger between its parent company and its dominant planemaking arm, changes which included a shift in the reporting line for its commercial sales team to Enders.

Enders said the shift in reporting lines for the sales team reflected the fact that commercial aircraft head Fabrice Bregier had been given more tasks in his new role as group-wide chief operating officer.

With orders slowing and the focus shifting to the backlog, Enders said the shake-up allows Bregier to concentrate on deliveries.

"This is merely a burden sharing mechanism because the focus should be on execution and this is what it's all about," Enders said.\
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