SCHULZ’S AIRBUS EXIT A SHOCK TO KEY CLIENT AIRASIA
SINGAPORE: AirAsia Group Bhd chief executive officer (CEO) Tan Sri Tony Fernandes is ‘shocked’ by the departure of Airbus SE’s chief salesman Eric Schulz, with whom he had negotiated and inked billions of dollars of aircraft orders.
It was also something he feared, according to Bloomberg News in an interview with Fernandes, here.
Schulz, who in November was named to the European planemaker’s top sales job and fill the shoes of his inimitable predecessor John Leahy, has cited personal reasons for his decision.
Airbus said on Thursday it regretted Schulz’s decision and “wish him all the best for his future”.
“Bit of a shock,” said Fernandes yesterday.
“But I always said it was going to be a hard act to follow John Leahy. It’s almost like replacing Ferguson at Manchester United,” he said, referring to the legendary English Premier League football manager.
Airbus said Christian Scherer, 56, would take over Schulz’s position as chief commercial officer effective immediately after resigning from ATR as its CEO.
“I’m sure he needs to meet me soon. We’ve got a lot of planes we want to buy, a lot of things we are looking at, in terms of A321s, so I’m sure we’ll meet soon,” said Fernandes.
Scherer will report to Airbus CEO Tom Enders.
Scherer, who was ATR’s CEO since October 2016, started his career in 1984 at Airbus.
He was head of contracts and leasing markets, deputy head of sales and head of strategy and future programmes.