Airbus SE has appointed Alberto Gutiérrez, 56, Head of Military Aircraft within Airbus Defence and Space, effective 1 January 2019. He will report to Airbus Defence and Space Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dirk Hoke and become Member of the division’s Executive Committee.
Furthermore, Alberto Gutiérrez will also serve as Head of Airbus Spain, overseeing the company’s overall business activities in the country. He succeeds Fernando Alonso, 62, who will retire after 40 years in the aerospace industry, thereof 37 at Airbus. Fernando Alonso will stay on until the end of March 2019 to ensure a smooth transition with his successor.
“I thank Fernando for his outstanding engagement and inspiring leadership over all these years. In fact, he’s one of the best people leaders I have ever met in our industry. Fernando looks back on an excellent career with countless achievements. Not only was he instrumental in recovering the critical A400M situation at the helm of Military Aircraft in recent years; he also contributed to the development and bringing to operation all of our Airbus Family Aircraft as a Flight Test Engineer,” said Airbus CEO Tom Enders.
“With thousands of flight test hours under his belt, Fernando performed the maiden flights of the A340-200 in 1992, the A319 in 1997, the A380 in April 2005 and the A350 XWB in June 2013. That is one impressive track record! I wish him a well-deserved retirement,” he added.
Dirk Hoke, CEO of Airbus Defence and Space, said: “With Alberto Gutiérrez, we have a successor to Fernando who brings an extensive background and expertise in Military Aircraft. His business intimacy is a crucial asset as we look towards exploring a range of new opportunities in the defence business ranging from campaigns on existing platforms like the Eurofighter or the A330MRTT to new projects like the Future Combat Air System.”
“Alberto’s strong customer focus combined with program and engineering expertise, make him the ideal candidate to continue our improvement and growth journey in our Military Aircraft business in the coming years,” Hoke continued.
Alberto Gutiérrez, currently Deputy Head of Military Aircraft within Airbus Defence and Space since July 2017, was CEO for Eurofighter GmbH based in Germany from 2013 to 2016.
He started his career in 1985 as an engineer and has held many senior management positions in Airbus Defence and Space as Head of Operations for Airbus Military and Head of Eurofighter Production for Germany and Spain. He has a Telecommunications Engineering degree from the Universidad Politécnica of Madrid.
Airbus is a global leader in aeronautics, space and related services. In 2017 it generated revenues of € 59 billion restated for IFRS 15 and employed a workforce of around 129,000. Airbus offers the most comprehensive range of passenger airliners from 100 to more than 600 seats.
Airbus is also a European leader providing tanker, combat, transport and mission aircraft, as well as one of the world’s leading space companies. In helicopters, Airbus provides the most efficient civil and military rotorcraft solutions worldwide.
