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MTU Aero Engines CEO Lars Wagner
Airbus has selected MTU Aero Engines CEO Lars Wagner as the new head of its commercial aircraft business.
Wagner will join the Airbus Executive Committee at the beginning of 2026 after his current contract at MTU ends. He will succeed long-time senior executive Christian Scherer.
“Christian and I are excited to have Lars Wagner, such a talented industry leader, coming back to the Airbus family in this key role,” Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury said. “Christian remains at the helm of the Commercial Aircraft business, supported by a great team, until the transition to Lars.”
“We have a clear plan for our Commercial Aircraft business and after 40 years at Airbus, I remain committed to the success of the company,” Scherer remarked. “I believe Lars, whom I have known for a long time, is the natural choice for Airbus as my successor. I very much welcome his nomination and look forward to working with him in this future transition.”
The Airbus board of directors also has decided to extend Faury’s contract as group CEO next year, a move that has to be approved by the 2025 annual general meeting.
Scherer, 62, has only been at the helm of the commercial aircraft division since the beginning of 2024 after having run the segment’s sales division. He has been on the group executive board since 2018 and has served Airbus in numerous roles for decades, including as CEO of ATR and as head of strategy. Among other things, he played a key role in the launch of the highly successful A320neo family.
Wagner, 49, moved to MTU from Airbus in 2015. At MTU, he has been executive board member for technology since 2018 and CEO since the beginning of 2023. Unlike Scherer, whose background is in business, strategy and sales, Wagner is an aerospace engineer and held senior roles in Airbus production before his time at MTU. Production challenges more than anything else are defining Airbus’ ability to grow.
Faury stressed that Scherer’s leaving his role after only two years is “absolutely no indication of Christian not doing the job” but instead the result of “onboarding Lars at the appropriate time. Christian and I get on very well.”
There will be a period of transition to Wagner from Scherer, but the details have yet to be decided, Faury said.
But Agency Partners analyst Sash Tusa commented, “We find it hard to escape a feeling that the planned retirement of Christian Scherer may in part be driven by the very disappointing industrial performance of the division, with the production rates ‘ramp’ having disappointed all through 2024. We increasingly think that 2025 initial guidance could be materially lower than our (or the market’s) forecasts.”
Tusa added that “the appointment of Lars Wagner as his successor is intriguing. We would expect him to take a significantly tougher line toward RTX/Pratt & Whitney, given [Pratt’s] high-handed treatment of its so-called ‘partners’ in the geared-turbofan crisis. This could, in our view, severely handicap [Pratt] in powering any future Airbuses, and favor Rolls-Royce.”
Meanwhile, Airbus continues to struggle with supply-chain constraints and internal production issues. The company conceded that 2025 production growth of the A350 program could be slower than expected because of “specific supply-chain challenges that may have an impact on the program’s ramp-up trajectory,” another setback for the company in its efforts to boost commercial aircraft output as quickly as possible.
However, Airbus continues to target around 770 commercial aircraft deliveries this year, compared to 497 in the first nine months of the year. Faury said the wording also could mean a range of 20 aircraft more or less than 770.
Airbus delivered 36 A350s from January to September, an average of four aircraft per month. The manufacturer is targeting a monthly rate of 12 by 2028, a tripling of output within four years. While delivery punctuality has been relatively high on the A350 compared to the narrowbody programs, some delays recently have crept in. Emirates, for example, has had to push out acceptance of its first A350-900 by months.
Separately, Airbus has confirmed a target of 14 A220s per month for 2026, a more specific guidance than given when the company was aiming at “the middle of the decade.”
Production growth of the A320neo-family to 75 aircraft per month remains unchanged and is expected to be achieved by 2027.
According to Faury, the difficult financial situation at major supplier Spirit AeroSystems is “one of the main reasons” for the current delays, but issues with interiors and seats also are creating bottlenecks. Also, “the availability of engines is pacing production,” Faury said. “Engines are scarce and will remain so for months to come.”
Airbus group revenues for the first nine months of 2024 rose 5% to €42.5 billion ($46.3 billion). Some 73% of revenues are attributable to the commercial aircraft division, 17% to defense and space and 10% to helicopters. The company made a €2.8 billion adjusted operating profit, down 23% from the same period in 2023.
The commercial business reached a €3 billion adjusted operating profit, down 6%. Airbus Helicopters contributed a €440 million profit, up 1%. Airbus Defense and Space lost €661 million, compared to a loss of €1 million a year earlier.
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