Aviation News
AIRBUS EXPANDING ENGINEERING ROLE IN U.S. - NEW LEADERSHIP NAMED FOR WICHITA
OCTOBER 27, 2005
WICHITA, KANSAS – Airbus, the world's premier airplane manufacturer, is expanding the role of its engineering team in the United States in response to growth in demand for Airbus aircraft and the manufacturer's decision to move forward with production of the A350. To prepare for the growth, Airbus North America has made the following leadership changes:
- John O'Leary, promoted to Senior Director – Airbus North America Engineering, Wichita
- Bill James, promoted to Director – Airbus North America Engineering, Wichita
- David Trent, named Senior Director – Airbus North America Engineering, Mobile
John O'Leary has been promoted to Senior Director of Airbus' engineering center in Wichita, Kansas. Most recently, he was Director of Operations there. O'Leary brings 22 years of engineering, operations and customer service experience to his new position, having previously held leadership roles at Raytheon Aircraft Services, Hawker Horizon and Beechjet, and in the Naval Air Systems Command with the United States Marine Corp.
As senior director, he will be responsible for all planning, organization of, and execution of all engineering and business functions in Airbus' Wichita location. The Wichita facility houses 200 engineers and staff working on the A380 and other Airbus long-range programs, including the A340 and A350.
Bill James, previously Manager of Design, has been promoted to Director of Engineering in Wichita. James has 16 years of aerospace engineering and leadership experience at Sikorsky Aircraft Company and Raytheon Aircraft Company. He joined Airbus in 2002. As director, James will be primarily responsible for the quality of the engineering data developed by the Wichita staff.
In addition to the changes in Wichita, as announced earlier this week, David Trent will be joining Airbus as Senior Director of Airbus' engineering center in Mobile, Alabama. Trent will be responsible for opening the new engineering center and integrating it into Airbus operations. The facility, which is scheduled to open in January 2007, will be responsible initially for assignments related to Airbus' new A350 aircraft, including the design of interiors, and will house at least 150 engineers at full capacity.
Trent and O'Leary will report to Bill Greer, Airbus North America's Vice President of Engineering. James will report to John O'Leary.
Airbus is currently looking for candidates to fill other key positions in structural analysis, engineering data control, and engineering finance management. Interested candidates should send their resume to Airbus at Wichita.HR@airbus.com. Airbus is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
ABOUT AIRBUS NORTH AMERICA (ANA)
In addition to Airbus' facility in Wichita, there are three other established hubs of ANA activity: ANA headquarters in Herndon, Virginia, ANA's Spares Center in Ashburn, Virginia, and the Airbus Training Center in Miami, Florida.
Airbus is a joint EADS company with BAE Systems.
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