New Airbus Americas CEO has ties to Wichita aviation

The leadership of European planemaker Airbus’ U.S. operations will be changing early next year, the company said Tuesday.

C. Jeffrey Knittel will assume the chairman and chief executive posts at Herndon, Va.-based Airbus Americas in 2018.

He will replace Airbus Americas CEO Barry Eccleston, who will retire on Feb. 28, 2018. Allan McArtor, chairman of Airbus Americas, will remain with the company as chairman emeritus.

Knittel has worked in the aerospace industry for more than 25 years, most recently as chief executive of C2 Aviation Capital, an aircraft leasing company. He also served as president of CIT Transportation & International Finance, where he worked for 31 years. He began his career at Cessna Finance Co., the former financing arm of Wichita-based Cessna Aircraft.

Airbus Americas operations employ 5,000 people and include its commercial aircraft assembly operations in Mobile, Ala., Airbus Helicopters in Texas and its Airbus Americas Engineering facility at Wichita State University’s Innovation Campus.

This story was originally published November 7, 2017 at 10:25 AM with the headline "New Airbus Americas CEO has ties to Wichita aviation."