Executive merry-go-round follows key resignation at Airbus

Rüdiger Fuchs, a key executive in European planemaker Aibus’ attempts to recover from destructive production delays to the A380 superjumbo airliner, has left the company. Airbus saaid Fuchs had left "to pursue other opportunities outside of Airbus”, although the Financial Times reported that his departure followed “tension with other Airbus executives”. The job of bossing fuselage and cabin manufacture in Hamburg - said to be the biggest manufacturing operation in the group – will now fall to 52 year-old Mario Heinen with immediate effect. Over the past two years Heinen has been involved in the management of the A380 programme and previously headed the Airbus Delivery Centre and the A320 programme. He joined Airbus in 1999 from Lufthansa Technik, where he served as General Manager Aircraft Maintenance Heinen’s job as head of the A380 programme goes, in turn, to Alain Flourens (51) who has been Executive Vice President in charge of the A320 programme since September 2006. That job goes to Daniel Baubil (52) who was Executive Vice President, Deputy Head of Procurement of Airbus.