By Katie Davis A fter 16 years in business, Airbus Group SE will combine all of its divisions into a single company in a major step toward to cut costs and speed decision-making for the company that manufactures everything from jetliners to space launchers Tom Enders will remain as Chief Executive Officer with Fabrice Bregier becoming Chief Operating Officer for the group, while remaining head of the main plane making unit, which has been rebranded as Airbus Commercial Aircraft The change was made to simplify the Airbus business model that has been burdened with complex and differ- ent business structures from the merger of the biggest aerospace companies in Airbus back in 2000. “The merger of Airbus Group and Airbus paves the way for an overhaul of our corporate set-up, simplifies our company’s governance, eliminates redundancies and
supports further efficiencies, while at the same time driving further integration of the entire group,” Enders said. Airbus said nothing about the potential impact on jobs but market experts expect job cuts which is not good news for the 137,000 Airbus employees, however Airbus needs to cut expenses as weak sales has curb production of the A380 superjumbo. The reorganization comes as Airbus Commercial Aircraft, which contributes two-thirds of group revenue, seeks to accelerate output of both single-aisle and wide-body jets to record levels. Two new models, the A320neo and A350, have respec- tively encountered issues with the supply of engines and interiors that could clip production rates with is not good news for the company, its employees or investors.
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SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS • OCTOBER 2016
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