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Aviation History
1997
1997 - 0075.PDF
NEWSMAKERS New Year's resolution Encouraging 1996 sales and new confidence in its defence programmes give Eurocopter's management breathing space for an organisational shake-up. ANDRJEZ JEZIORSKI/MUNICH ONE OF THE FEW people to emerge smiling from the Franco-German summit in Nuremberg on 9 December was Siegfried Sobotta, co-presi dent of Eurocopter and chairman and chief executive of Eurocopter Deutscheland (ECD). During the summit, Germany gave no firm commitment to the joint Helios 2/Horus satellite pro gramme; the European Future Large Aircraft was not even dis cussed; and no new clues were forthcoming as to how Germany will find the money to fund the next Eurofighter phase. Sobotta and his French counterpart Jean-Francois Bigay, however, emerged clutching some unexpectedly firm commit ments to the Tiger and NH90 defence-helicopter programmes, with die French and Germans both finning up their orders. For Sobotta, who studied law before joining the Daimler-Benz trainee programme in February 1969, this was welcome news indeed. After being involved in die management of numerous projects in Daimler's automotive business, he became head of die cross-coun try vehicle division in 1981, mov ing on to die bus and coach division in 1987, where he supervised the division's restructuring. Since 1992, when Eurocopter was formed from the merger of the helicopter divisions of Aerospatiale and the former MBB (now Daim ler-Benz Aerospace), Sobotta has been co-president of the Paris- based company alongside Bigay. In diat role, he has had to preside over drastic cutbacks, while watching the French and German govern ments raise serious doubts over the futures of the NH-90 and Tiger. In 1996, France was suggesting dramatic cuts in helicopter pro curements as part of a savings drive, while the cash-strapped German Government announced a year's Siegfried Sobotta delay in the production-invest ment phase for the Tiger. In fact, the French have cut NH90 numbers — from an origi nal 220, to 160 — and delayed entry into service substantially, with a 2007 in-service date for the naval variant, and 2011 for the transport version. Sobotta says that this came as no surprise, and that the French workshare in the pro gramme may be cut as a result. This will be negotiated with die Dutch and Italians as soon as these coun tries also confirm their offtakes. "We've known since mid-1996 that there is a reduc tion [in the French NH90 require ment], and also a delay to deliveries," he says. Germany, on the other hand, has now confirmed its commitment to buying 243 heli copters, with deliv ery beginning 2003, which Sobotta says is "positive" for Eurocopter. The Tiger now seems to be in an even better position, with die orig inal quantities — 215 helicopters for France and 212 for Germany— now confirmed, after years of con tradictory speculation. Each coun try has committed to buying an initial batch of 80 Tigers, including ten of the anti-armour variant. "We also have to maintain the national identity on both sides, because this is very important for our prime customers in Bonn or Paris." "We didn't expect to have a fixed order as early as this, so I think the Franco-German summit was a good one," says Sobotta. The Tiger production-invest ment contract is now expected by mid-year - over a year late, as the documents were ready to be signed at the end of 1995. Yet Sobotta insists that as long as die contract is signed by July, the company can still meet the required German in- service date of 2001. It has not been an easy few years for the helicopter industry, and Eurocopter is still not profitable. The past year has shown signs of improvement, however, with the company win ning contracts worth DM9.3 billion ($6.1 bil lion), which it de scribes as "balsam on the wounds of the last three years". One of Sobotta's and Bigay's key tasks in the coming year will be to streamline Eurocopter manage ment in a move to drive costs down. "Our aim is quite clearly to have an integrated company as soon as pos sible. This means we should streamline our organisational stru cture as if we were one company," says Sobotta. At the moment, there "We didn't expect to have a fixed order as early as this, so I think the Franco- German summit was a good one." is much doubling up of responsibil ity between the two, each company having its own heads of civil and military helicopters, and so on. "We don't have a standalone European corporate law, so we have to maintain a company under French law and a company under German law. We also have to main tain the national identity on both sides, because diis is very important for our prime customers in Bonn or Paris," he adds. Sobotta says that it is also essen tial to safeguard employment and technical competence in the part ner companies, with neither domi nating and reducing the other to the role of supplier. This will inevitably lead to new job cuts, in a company which has already reduced its workforce from 4,000 at the end of 1991 to about 2,990 at the end of 1996. Sobotta says diat restructuring is unlikely to lead to further cuts in development and production staff, bearing in mind the volume of current con tracts for such products as the EC135, but management and administrative staff will be hit. Eurocopter provides one of the few examples of even partial European aerospace integration. Yet according to Sobotta, there appear to be no plans for further moves towards a single European helicopter industry. Co-operation with Agusta, of Italy, remains limited to the NH90 programme, in which the Euro copter partners hold 66.4% against Agusta's 26.9%. GKN Wesdand is, for the moment, sitting pretty with its recent McDonnell Douglas AH-64 Apache contract, its share of the EH101 programme and its backlog of Lynx work. Meanwhile, Eurocopter has its partnerships with Kawasaki on the BK117, and with China's CATIC and Singapore Aerospace on the EC 120, and Sobotta also maintains hope for co-operation with Mil of Russia in die Euromil venture. J FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 8 - 14 January 1997 21
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