Analysis - Sources say Airbus board appointments indicate that a decision on the CEO candidate will be made next year

Tim Hepher

Reuters Paris, October 2 - Airbus AIR.PA announced a series of board personnel changes, including the appointment of its first female chairman and first chairman from outside the Franco-German core, marking the beginning of a series of expected key leadership decisions over the coming year.

The European plane maker said on Thursday evening that former Spanish energy executive Amparo Moraleda was appointed (link) as chairman of the board in April this year, succeeding Rene Obermann, who had previously decided not to seek another term.

Obermann’s term was scheduled to end in April next year, but he indicated his intention to step down as early as this April.

When Airbus appointed then MTU Aero Engines MTXGn.DE CEO Lars Wagner as CEO of its jetliner business ahead of schedule, succeeding Christian Scherer, it followed a similar pattern.

He took on the position in January after being publicly nominated more than a year earlier (link), partly to comply with transition requirements at MTU.

Several people familiar with the company said a similar approach is expected regarding whether to renew or replace current CEO Guillaume Faury; if Faury departs, Wagner is widely seen as the leading successor.

This means the decision on whether to reappoint Faury—and any possible transition arrangements if the board decides to change leadership—are expected in 2027, well before the deadline of April 2028, by which time Faury will have served nine years as CEO.

Two sources said Airbus may start seriously considering CEO succession as early as April next year.

An Airbus spokesperson declined to comment on “speculation about leadership appointments.”

Continuity and Succession

With 160,000 employees and a product portfolio including jetliners that compete with Boeing BA.N, as well as rockets and fighter jets, the CEO position at Airbus is one of the most high-profile roles in European industry.

Airbus was founded in 1970 as a consortium backed by France, Germany, the UK, and Spain. It was restructured in 2000 into a Franco-German-led group and gained autonomy over key personnel appointments in 2013.

The handling of this appointment is seen as a crucial test for Airbus’s increasingly market-oriented governance model. This is the first orderly handover of power since the internal disputes and Franco-German tussles in 2019.

Analysts say Airbus must now strike a balance between continuity and preparing a successor to oversee strategic decisions, including making choices over new aircraft designs for the next decade.

Faury, 58, took over as CEO in 2019. His agenda has included boosting competitiveness and advancing decarbonization, and he led Airbus through the COVID-19 crisis. He has not ruled out a fourth term after 2028, and in July this year put forward a record profit target for 2029.

Asked at the time whether he would be the one to deliver that target, Faury said: “I am fully prepared to go along with whatever the board deems best for the company, and I very much enjoy my current job.”

Wagner has yet to comment on his future, but the former engine company boss outlined an agenda in January that includes reviewing critical engine technology for the successor to the A320—a once-in-a-generation bet expected to be a focus for Airbus’s next CEO.

However, sources say the 51-year-old Wagner, who is soft-spoken but determined, might not be willing to stay on the succession shortlist for long, especially as he has already served as a listed company CEO before.

Knowledgeable sources also say that, after months of intermittent strikes in Spain, Airbus’s human resources management is under scrutiny. The strikes are considered the longest-running labor dispute in company history.

Employees voted on Thursday to end the strike (link). Previously, the strike had escalated as the company and unions struggled to appease a largely young workforce frustrated by efficiency measures and return-to-office orders. In August, Airbus scrapped its “four-day rule.”

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