Jean Pierson

Jean Pierson (17 November 1940 – 3 November 2021) was a French aerospace engineer who served as the managing director and CEO of Airbus Industrie between 1985 and 1998. During his time as its leader, the company emerged as a global competitor to the then leader Boeing. In addition to advancing the Airbus A320 program he also set up the wide-bodied double-decker Airbus A380 program.

Biography Pierson was born on 17 November 1940 in Bizerte in the French protectorate of Tunisia. He studied at the Prytanée national militaire and the military academy in La Flèche, France, and graduated from the Institut supérieur de l'aéronautique et de l'espace in 1963. He started his career in 1963 at Sud Aviation, the predecessor of Airbus Industrie, where he worked as a production engineer. He joined French aerospace manufacturer Aérospatiale in 1972, going on to head their commercial aircraft business.

In addition to advancing the Airbus A320 program, he also set up the wide-bodied double-decker A3xx program which would later become the Airbus A380 program. He played a large role in the commercial development of Airbus Industries. While the Airbus A380 would prove to be a commercial failure many years later, with its last delivery in 2021, 14 years after the first flight, Pierson was known to have been right in calling the failure of the A400. He led investments to the Airbus A320 program and led the one-cockpit strategy while developing the Airbus A321, further cementing the A320 family of aircraft as the cash cow for the company.

Pierson retired from Airbus in 1998, after serving as managing director since 1985. During his time as leader, the company's global market share increased from 17% to 40%. In addition to breaking into the North American market, he was also credited with transforming Airbus from a loose consortium to a global competitor in the aviation industry. At the time that he took over as leader, Airbus was a consortium that brought together French Aérospatiale, West German Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm, Britain's British Aerospace, and Spain's Construtores Aeronauticas, a combination of multiple state-owned firms relying on loans and credits from the host countries. He had to face regulatory threats and threats of retaliation from the Reagan administration which deemed the state support enjoyed by Airbus as anti-competitive. He began the process of the integration and creation of a unified corporation, calling the old model of the consortium outdated.

Distinctions Source: Knight of the Legion of Honour Officer of the Ordre national du Mérite Doctor honoris causa of Cranfield University