Airbus Marketing Head Chris Emerson Appointed to Lead Airbus Helicopters Inc.

Airbus Group today announced that Chris Emerson, a veteran Airbus Group executive, has been appointed President and Chief Executive of Airbus Helicopters Inc. effective June 1. Emerson will also serve as head of Airbus Helicopters North America Region, which includes oversight of both the U.S. subsidiary and Airbus Helicopters Canada.

In his new roles Emerson will replace Marc Paganini, who has accepted a new assignment with Airbus Group as head of Special Projects. Paganini has headed Airbus Helicopters Inc., the Grand Prairie, Texas-based subsidiary of Airbus Group Inc., since January 2003.

Emerson is currently Senior Vice President, Head of Marketing with Airbus in Toulouse, France, and heads a team of 200 analysts that provides data demonstrating the value that Airbus aircraft bring to the marketplace. Previously he was Head of Airbus Future Programmes & Product Strategy, where he was responsible for producing the Airbus Global Market Forecast and setting policy direction for current and future programs.

Emerson was Senior Vice President and CFO of EADS North America (now Airbus Group Inc.) from 2003 to 2010. He began his career in 1996 with Mercedes Benz U.S. International, then joined DaimlerChrysler Aerospace (DASA) and was part of the internal team that formed EADS (Airbus Group) from three national entities, was responsible for establishing the initial valuation of the company for an IPO and establishing its credit rating.

"Chris is a talented young executive who has had a big impact on Airbus Group from its inception and in every subsequent post," said Allan McArtor, Chairman and CEO of Airbus Group Inc. "He is inheriting the leadership of a strong company that has been the leader in the U.S. commercial helicopter market for more than decade. We are confident Chris will continue and enhance the growth of Airbus Helicopters in North America."

"Airbus Helicopters (formerly American Eurocopter) has thrived in the U.S. market under Marc Paganini's leadership during his nearly 13-year tenure, growing commercial market share and securing the Lakota contract from the Army," said Airbus Helicopters CEO Guillaume Faury. "Chris is taking over at an opportune time to guide a new era of growth for Airbus Helicopters in the North American market."

"This is a bittersweet time for me," said Paganini. "I am excited to be taking on a new role as head of Special Projects for Airbus Group. It will be a challenging, but invigorating position as we look for ways to expand Airbus Group in the U.S. and globally. At the same time, I'm a little sad to be stepping away from Airbus Helicopters Inc. even though this is the right time to do so. My time with this company has been incredibly rewarding."