Rotorcraft manufacturer Bell has named its next chief executive, after the company’s outgoing CEO was promoted to oversee parent company Textron.
Current chief commercial officer Danny Maldonado will succeed Lisa Athereon as the CEO of Bell, with Maldonado’s appointment taking effect in January.
Maldonado has been in the CCO role since 2024, with a brief covering Bell’s global commercial aircraft sales, aftermarket solutions, the Bell Training Academy and new product development.
He has been with Textron since 1990.
Maldonado will take charge of Bell at a time of critical change for the company.
Bell is in the early stages of launching the new MV-75 tiltrotor programme for the US Army, which is set to become the company’s marquee product for the coming decades.
That ramp up comes as longtime mainstays of Bell’s portfolio are nearing the likely end of production, including the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor and the H-1 line of attack and utility helicopters – although a last minute deal with Ukraine may extend the life of the AH-1Z/UH-1Y line.
Bell is also the lone finalist in a next-generation X-plane contest being organised the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency that could see the company advance tiltrotor technology even further beyond the MV-75.
Elsewhere in the world of military business, Bell is in the crowded field competing for the US Army’s Flight School Next contract – a broad programme that will include new fleet of contractor-operated trainer helicopters and an instructional curriculum for new aviators.
On the civil side, major agenda items for Bell include full certification for the long-delayed 525 super medium twin, development of which began more than a decade ago in 2012.
The outgoing Bell chief, Lisa Atherton, was promoted by the Textron board of directors earlier this month to the top position within the sprawling, Rhode Island-headquartered aviation manufacturing company.
Textron’s holdings include the Bell helicopter business, the business jet and general aviation Textron Aviation segment, the defence-focused Textron Systems unit and a general industrial manufacturing segment.
Atherton will replace Scott Donnelly, who has helmed Textron since 2009.
