Airbus picks former GE executive as Europe Sales Chief

Airbus SE has chosen a former General Electric Co. executive as the planemaker’s new sales chief in Europe in a move to strengthen its salesforce to get through the pandemic.

The company confirmed that Wouter Van Wersch, who until last month was GE’s president and chief executive officer for Asia-Pacific, will take up the role. He will start on Sept. 1 and report to commercial head Christian Scherer, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.

Van Wersch will be tasked with navigating Airbus through the aviation crisis caused by the Covid-19 outbreak while seeking to minimize the impact of lower aircraft sales and production. He’ll also be responsible for managing relationships with key customers such as Air France-KLM, EasyJet Plc and Deutsche Lufthansa AG.

Airbus, based in Toulouse, France, confirmed Van Wersch’s appointment but made no further comment.

Van Wersch said in a July 8 LinkedIn post that he had left GE for a new role in France. He couldn’t be reached for comment.

The appointment comes at a challenging time for Airbus, even though the company has largely managed to avoid order cancellations tied to the virus. Keeping lines of communication open with customers whose revenues continue to be affected by travel quarantines will be vital.

Europe’s biggest discount carrier, Ryanair Holdings Plc, said Monday it’s slashing the number of flights for September and October after demand from potential holidaymakers weakened. Other airlines are said to be weighing similar cuts following a European surge in new virus cases.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Van Wersch previously worked for Airbus as an Asia Pacific sales manager for Matra Communication. The role lasted almost three years beginning in 1997. He has also held positions at Alcatel Lucent SAS, and Alstom SA. He spent almost five years with GE following its acquisition of Alstom’s power and grid unit.