Wings Magazine

News
Bombardier Aerospace CEO retires amid restructuring

July 24, 2014, Montreal - Bombardier Aerospace president and CEO Guy Hachey is retiring after six years in the post amid a restructuring of operations at aerospace that will result in the layoff of 1,800 employees.


July 24, 2014  By The Canadian Press

The Montreal-based company says its aerospace division
will operate in three segments — business aircraft, commercial aircraft
and aerostructures and engineering services — each headed by an
executive. The railway segment based in Germany remains intact.

 

Hachey,
59, took over the aerospace division in 2008 following a 30-year career
in the automotive industry with General Motors and Delphi Automotive
Systems.

Advertisement

 

He left the company Wednesday as its new CSeries
commercial aircraft remains grounded following an engine incident at the
end of May. The aircraft has undergone several delays and is now
expected to be delivered in the second half of next year.

 

In a release issued Wednesday after markets closed, Bombardier said Hachey was retiring "as a result of this reorganization."

 

"Guy
led Bombardier Aerospace during an important period in its history. I
wish to thank him for his contributions over the past six years,"
Bombardier CEO Pierre Beaudoin said in a terse, one-line comment.

 

Spokeswoman
Isabelle Rondeau declined to say how long the restructuring plans have
been in the works and whether there was a disagreement between Hachey
and the company that prompted the change.

 

"He's retiring today," she said repeatedly.

 

"We
are changing the structure because the financial performance and
execution have not met expectations and we want to have a lighter
structure."

 

Rondeau said the change isn't the result of problems
with the CSeries, nor should it be viewed as desperation by the
transportation giant.

 

"It's a new step in the evolution of
Bombardier…We've invested in products and we really feel this new
structure will allow us to be more agile, more flexible. It will
increase our focus on growth areas."

 

Effective immediately, the
heads of all segments will report to Beaudoin. They are Lutz Bertling at
Transportation, Eric Martel at Business Aircraft and Mike Arcamone at
Commercial Aircraft. The head of the new Aerostructures and Engineering
Services business segment will be appointed in the next few weeks.

 

This
segment will focus existing efforts on the design and development of
complex advanced composite and metallic aerostructures for all classes
of civil aircraft, including fuselage, wings and engine nacelles.

 

Some
aerospace functions and the customer services division will be absorbed
into the three aerospace units, generating unspecified cost savings.
The new structure will be in place Jan. 1.

 

Rondeau said the change
will result in the layoff of about 1,800 "indirect" functions such as
finance and human resources, or 4.8 per cent of Aerospace's global
workforce of more than 37,000.

 

"It's really spread everywhere. Bombardier Aerospace worldwide, so it's not just Montreal."

 

Meanwhile,
Bombardier said economic sanctions imposed on Russia could have an
impact on the timeline of the company's plans to set up a plant in the
country.

 

The Montreal-based giant was hoping to conclude
negotiations this year with Russian company Rostec for the assembly of
100 Q400 regional jets in a project estimated at $3.4 billion.

 

Company
spokeswoman Marianella Delabarrera said Bombardier is now being
"realistic" about the possibility the project will be delayed.

 

Foreign
Affairs Minister John Baird announced this week that Canada would slap
sanctions against more Russian individuals and entities, including
government agencies, over that country's continuing support for rebels
in eastern Ukraine.

 

Canada has so far imposed sanctions against 110 individuals and entities.

 

Delabarrera said Rostec has not been targeted by the sanctions and that talks with the Russian company would continue.

Advertisement

Stories continue below