Airbus switches up, names new A350 program manager

Didier Evrard has been appointed head of Airbus A350 program. The assignment will take place January 11.

Evrard has previously been with MBDA, a world leader in missiles, where he led the MBDA Product Lines Directorate together with MBDA France since 2002.

Before its industrial launch, the A350 program was coordinated by Olivier Andries, Airbus’ executive vice president of strategy, who, along with the "Program" team led by EVP Tom Williams, was the driving force behind the development of the program. Airbus stated that, at this point, it is key to evolve the team leadership structure to provide long-term continuity for the development of the program.

"I would like to thank Olivier and especially all those in Tom's team who have contributed to leading the A350 XWB up to industrial launch and to what it is today,” said Airbus president and CEO Louis Gallois. “Didier Evrard brings proven leadership and program development management capabilities in combination with an understanding of customer needs and business objectives. This will be a strong asset for the A350 team. He has the full support of both the EADS and Airbus managements to successfully lead the technical and industrial development of the A350 XWB program.”

Didier Evrard, a graduate of the Ecole Centrale of Lyon and of the Sup'Aero Engineering School, started his career in 1977 as a test engineer with Matra. Until 1997, he held various multinational project management positions for programs that were done in cooperation with Italian, German, British and/or French partners.

Between 1998 and 2002, he was MBD (Matra BAe Dynamics) stand-off program director, with global responsibility for the multinational Storm Shadow/SCALP program, managing all aspects related to customers, technology, industrialization, finance and risks.

Airbus is an EADS company.