Airbus moved on 21 November 2018 to fill two of its most important management posts as the planemaker worked through legal scrutiny, internal strain and pressure to hit record output targets.
The company said Dominik Asam, then finance director at Infineon Technologies, would become chief financial officer. He was set to replace Harald Wilhelm, who had already planned to step down. Airbus said Asam would join on 1 April 2019, with Wilhelm staying on until the annual shareholder meeting 10 days later.
Asam was described as an engineer, a former Siemens executive and someone who began his career at Goldman Sachs. Airbus said his background fit the financial side of the overhaul it was carrying out.
The planemaker also appointed Michael Schoellhorn, who was then chief operating officer of Bosch subsidiary BSH Home Appliances, as chief operating officer for its commercial aircraft business. He was chosen to succeed Tom Williams, a veteran Airbus troubleshooter due to retire at the end of 2018.
Airbus said Schoellhorn’s experience in digital manufacturing would help as it pushed to modernize factories. That effort was taking place while the company tried to raise production to meet strong jet demand, but engine problems and quality issues at a Hamburg plant were complicating the ramp-up, according to industry sources.
Chief executive Tom Enders praised Williams as an industry veteran with 50 years of experience and one of the company’s most dependable internal voices during the production push.
The appointments came after Reuters reported a day earlier that Airbus was preparing top financial and operational changes as incoming chief executive Guillaume Faury tightened control after months of turmoil linked to corruption investigations and delivery delays.
Wilhelm’s decision in May to step down had surprised some observers after he ended payments to middlemen and opened the door to continuing fraud investigations. He had also pushed a leaner corporate structure and a more market-friendly approach. Although he has not been accused of wrongdoing, sources said his departure reflected a board-led effort to present a new face to UK and French investigators.
Reuters had reported the previous month that Wilhelm would be replaced by a fellow German from outside the group. Enders was also due to step down in April 2019, and the company planned to appoint a new chairman in 2020.
Airbus shares were 0.5 percent higher in early trading after the announcement.
The reshuffle also came weeks after Infineon Technologies booked a new multi-million euro provision tied to a possible settlement with the administrator of its former memory chip unit Qimonda, which pushed its shares lower.
Infineon, spun off from Siemens in 1999, makes chips used to activate car accessories and reduce vehicle emissions. Reuters noted that the company, like Airbus and its main rival Boeing, is exposed to trade friction and wider economic shifts.
Archive note: A Reuters file photo used with the original report was dated February 16, 2017.
Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta
