By Marina Malenic
Sean O’Keefe, a former NASA administrator and deputy director at the Office of Management and Budget, was yesterday named chief executive officer of EADS North America, while current CEO Ralph Crosby will remain board chairman and oversee the EADS effort on the Northrop Grumman [NOC] team pursuing the U.S. Air Force’s aerial refueling tanker replacement contract.
“This is the pre-eminent company in the world in the aerospace industry,” O’Keefe told reporters in Washington. “It is an extraordinary opportunity that just could not be passed up.”
O’Keefe is also a former Navy secretary and, most recently, directed Washington operations for General Electric‘s [GE] aviation business. GE has been lobbying to end the Obama administration’s effort to terminate development of an alternate engine, the GE-Rolls-Royce F136, for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
EADS CEO Louis Gallois said the leadership change is intended as “a reinforcement of EADS North America because we have big ambitions” in the United States.
“We want to be considered as American citizens in the United States,” he said. “We want to make the United States our domestic country, as we are in France, in Germany, in the U.K. and in Spain.”
Gallois emphasized that EADS is the single largest international buyer of U.S. aerospace products. He said the company supports some 200,000 jobs by purchasing $11 billion worth of aerospace goods and services annually.
EADS, along with prime contractor Northrop Grumman, in early 2008 won a competition to build the next generation of aerial refueling tankers for the U.S. Air Force. However, that contract was terminated when congressional auditors upheld a protest by rival Boeing [BA].
The Pentagon recently opened a fresh competition, unveiling a new Request for Proposals after over a year of work.
Gallois said he remains concerned that Boeing was privy to sensitive pricing data after its protest of the tanker decision. He said EADS should be provided with Boeing’s price breakdowns to create a “level playing field.” Pentagon officials have rejected that criticism.
Washington and Brussels, meanwhile, are litigating a dispute over alleged subsidies to their respective aerospace companies in the World Trade Organization. Gallois said last month’s interim WTO ruling against the European Union was “mixed” and that a similar decision in the European Union’s case against the United States could lead to a compromise.
And while EADS still wants to pursue “significant targets” for potential U.S. acquisitions, Gallois said he is continuing last year’s strategy of keeping a strong cash position.
The EADS leadership changes announced yesterday are effective Nov. 1, according to a company spokesman.