Francis Avanzi, formerly CFM International chairman and chief executive officer and previously Snecma vice-president in charge of CFM56 and GE90 programmes, has been named Arianespace's chief operating officer and executive vice-president. He served as an officer in the French navy before joining Snecma Group in 1976, where he acquired experience in fields such as quality control, manufacturing, engineering, planning, finance, computerised systems, communication and human resources. After a three-year term as CFM International chairman and chief executive in the USA, he joined Arianespace in November 1995.
Source: Flight International