Airbus has named Philippe Mhun to replace “mission impossible” man Didier Evrard at the airframer’s commercial division.
Mhun, currently Head of Customer Services at Airbus, will take up his new position as Chief Programmes and Services Officer on January 1, 2019.
Airwise.com reported that Evrard, who Airbus chief executive Tom Enders referred to as programme manager “par excellence”, is due to retire at year’s end after 41 years at the company.
Mhun joined Airbus in 2004 as A380 Programme VP, becoming Customer Services VP soon after. He will report to Enders until his retirement in April, then to his replacement as CEO Guillaume Faury after the Airbus AGM (annual shareholders meeting) on April 10, 2019.
Prior to joining Airbus Mhun held various positions at French airline UTA between 1986 and 2004, and subsequently at Air France.
Enders paid tribute to Didier Evrard saying it was largely due to his determination and programme management skills that the A350 XWB has become “the widebody of choice for 45 of the world’s leading airlines.”
He said the A350 programme was affectionately known as “mission impossible” in its early stages of development.
