New appointments at Airbus for operations and procurement

Gerald Weber (57) has been appointed Head of Operations and Member of the Airbus Executive Committee as of 2nd April. Mr Weber was until recently Head of Truck Product Creation and Member of the Board “Commercial Vehicles” at DaimlerChrysler AG and has held senior positions at A.T. Kearney and Volkswagen AG.

Gerald will succeed Karl-Heinz Hartmann who continues in his role until the 2nd April.

“I would like to thank Karl-Heinz Hartmann for his dedication and commitment as Head of Operations in which role he has successfully contributed to the impressive single-aisle and long-range ramp up and to the A350 launch. The New Airbus requires a review of Operations while benchmarking other leading industries. Gerald Weber is the ideal person to put this into motion and has the full support of the EADS and Airbus management”, Airbus President and CEO, Louis Gallois said on the occasion of the appointment.

As of 30th March, Tom Williams (54) is appointed acting Head of Procurement, together with his current Executive Vice President Programmes responsibilities.

Tom Williams will succeed Henri Courpron who leaves this role effective 30th March.

“Tom has an excellent track record of successfully delivering significant achievements across the business, including those in his role as the previous Head of Procurement. His expertise and leadership will add further momentum to the important steps ahead in the procurement area and in accompanying our suppliers towards a strong joint future”, said Louis Gallois, “I would like to thank Henri for his 20 years of dedication and commitment, during which he successfully contributed to the global development of Airbus and Airbus North America.”

Gerald Weber, started as a tool-maker and graduated from Stuttgart University with a diploma in mechanical engineering. Having obtained a PhD in mechanical engineering at the Fraunhofer-Institut (IPA) in 1982, he started a 17 year career within the Volkswagen-Group. He held various management and international positions, including Member of the Board for “Technical affairs” at Skoda and General Manager of the VW plant in Wolfsburg. In 1999 he joined A.T. Kearney in the position of Vice President “Automotive Practice”. He was appointed at DaimlerChrysler AG in 2002 as Head of Business Unit Powersystems.