SHOTLIST
28 June 2006
1. Various of Noel Forgeard, co-Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) arriving at French National Assembly, with reporters surrounding him
2. Wide of Assembly room, members seated, Forgeard taking a seat near front
3. Various of Forgeard seated, surrounded by photographers
AP Television
FILE - 17 January 2006
4. Various of Airbus executives walking onto stage
5. Mid of Gustav Humbert, Airbus CEO, walking to stage
6. Wide of news conference
7. Mid of news conference
8. Mid of Humbert speaking
9. Model plane in the press room
STORYLINE
European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) co-chief executive Noel Forgeard and Gustav Humbert, head of civil plane unit Airbus, stepped down on Sunday as part of a management shake-up following production delays for the new A380 superjumbo jet.
The shakeup came after EADS shares plunged 26 percent on June 14th, with the company announcing of A380 delays and saying the production hitches would cut 2 (b) billion euro (2.5 (b) billion US dollars) off profits over four years.
EADS controls Airbus through an 80 percent stake.
The announcement prompted calls for a change in the leadership EADS, which is run jointly by French-German management.
Forgeard, who served as Airbus CEO from 1998 until last year, is credited with the aircraft maker's development into a serious competitor to
Chicago-based Boeing Co.
Airbus has won more orders than Boeing every year since 2001.
But it was also on his watch that the first, six-month A380 production delay occurred, and an under-ambitious design for the A350 - billed as a
rival to Boeing's 787 Dreamliner - went back to the drawing board.
Concern grew when Boeing took the lead last year on overall order value, as higher fuel prices boosted the 777 and punished the less fuel-efficient Airbus A340.
Humbert was appointed Airbus chief executive in 2005 after working for the company for several years.
He is a one-time professor who took a job at Messerschmitt-Boelkow-Blohm in the 1980s worked his way up through Germany's aerospace industry, becoming chairman of Germany's Aerospace Industries Association in 1999.
Forgeard will be replaced by Louis Gallois, head of France's SNCF rail operator, who will work alongside current EADS co-CEO Tom Enders, the company said in a statement.
Humbert will be succeeded by Christian Streiff, a former executive with building materials maker Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA.
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