Airbus Braces for Life After Leahy
- American reveals that he will leave ‘sooner rather than later’
- Head of strategy Rao confirmed as next in line for key role
John Leahy in Toulouse, France, on Sept. 25, 2014.
Photographer: Balint Porneczi/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Airbus SE faces the end of an era as sales supremo John Leahy prepares to leave after racking up more than $1 trillion of aircraft deals during his career at the European planemaker.
Leahy, 66, said at a briefing in Mexico that he’ll go “sooner rather than later” and confirmed that the reins of the sales operation will be handed to Kiran Rao, executive vice president of strategy and marketing at Airbus’s commercial-plane unit.