I categorize this one under "Hmmm, I didn't know that." Piper has a connection to a prime player in the Boeing-Airbus competition that I generally pay attention to. In short, the guy who often has been taking Boeing's lunch for a decade now is an American who worked for Piper decades ago.
The man who has very much credit -- or blame -- for turning Europe's part-subsidized manufacturer, Airbus, into the international sales leader in air carriers was had been the head of marketing for Piper Aircraft, prior to 1985, when he joined EADS/Airbus as a saleman. I do not know what his record with Piper was, but it is none too shabby at Airbus.
(Emphasis in the story clippings are mine. Link to the whole article is at bottom.)
Special Report: The man who sold the sky
(from Reuters / By Tim Hepher / Editing by Simon Robinson and Sara Ledwith)
... John Leahy, 60, is one of the most prolific salesmen in industrial history -- a relentless chaser who with irreverent wit and the discipline of a politician has amassed a backlog of plane orders worth half a trillion dollars. More than anyone, the American is responsible for lifting Europe's Airbus to the number one slot in global sales.
... For the past four years, Leahy and other current and former executives have been under investigation over insider trading allegations concerning delays to the A380, a process which could drag on for years. Leahy and his colleagues all deny any illegal behavior.
Under Leahy, Airbus has outsold Boeing in eight of the last 10 years, and in 2010 bagged 52 percent of the global market. The 40-year-old company last month sold its 10,000th plane -- almost 9,000 of them on Leahy's watch.
... Leahy studied communications and philosophy at the Jesuit-founded Fordham University in New York and took up flying while studying for an MBA at Syracuse University. A private man for someone bathed in industry attention, Leahy relaxes when telling stories about seat-of-the-pants landings in small aircraft.
Pushing his seat back he mimics how the engine note rises if you nod off at the controls and how he would "catch" -- he gestures a sudden move to grab hold of a control column -- the freight plane he used to fly, before the captain woke up and filled the cockpit with insults.
After university and a stint in real estate he became head of marketing at Pennsylvania-based Piper Aircraft before joining the U.S. arm of Airbus as a salesman. It was 1985 and the European company's global market share was about 13 percent. Can Airbus do what it does without Leahy? The answer may be changing as Airbus matures into the leading jetliner producer ahead of Boeing, but many say deals still rely on his charisma, arm-twisting and sometimes grouchy style of negotiation.
"He has extraordinary imagination," says EADS's Gallois, who has made sales trips with Leahy. "He is like a pianist who touches the keys with extraordinary agility."
Entire Reuters article: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/08/us-airbus-leahy-idUSTRE7171ME20110208?pageNumber=1
The man who has very much credit -- or blame -- for turning Europe's part-subsidized manufacturer, Airbus, into the international sales leader in air carriers was had been the head of marketing for Piper Aircraft, prior to 1985, when he joined EADS/Airbus as a saleman. I do not know what his record with Piper was, but it is none too shabby at Airbus.
(Emphasis in the story clippings are mine. Link to the whole article is at bottom.)
Special Report: The man who sold the sky
(from Reuters / By Tim Hepher / Editing by Simon Robinson and Sara Ledwith)
... John Leahy, 60, is one of the most prolific salesmen in industrial history -- a relentless chaser who with irreverent wit and the discipline of a politician has amassed a backlog of plane orders worth half a trillion dollars. More than anyone, the American is responsible for lifting Europe's Airbus to the number one slot in global sales.
... For the past four years, Leahy and other current and former executives have been under investigation over insider trading allegations concerning delays to the A380, a process which could drag on for years. Leahy and his colleagues all deny any illegal behavior.
Under Leahy, Airbus has outsold Boeing in eight of the last 10 years, and in 2010 bagged 52 percent of the global market. The 40-year-old company last month sold its 10,000th plane -- almost 9,000 of them on Leahy's watch.
... Leahy studied communications and philosophy at the Jesuit-founded Fordham University in New York and took up flying while studying for an MBA at Syracuse University. A private man for someone bathed in industry attention, Leahy relaxes when telling stories about seat-of-the-pants landings in small aircraft.
Pushing his seat back he mimics how the engine note rises if you nod off at the controls and how he would "catch" -- he gestures a sudden move to grab hold of a control column -- the freight plane he used to fly, before the captain woke up and filled the cockpit with insults.
After university and a stint in real estate he became head of marketing at Pennsylvania-based Piper Aircraft before joining the U.S. arm of Airbus as a salesman. It was 1985 and the European company's global market share was about 13 percent. Can Airbus do what it does without Leahy? The answer may be changing as Airbus matures into the leading jetliner producer ahead of Boeing, but many say deals still rely on his charisma, arm-twisting and sometimes grouchy style of negotiation.
"He has extraordinary imagination," says EADS's Gallois, who has made sales trips with Leahy. "He is like a pianist who touches the keys with extraordinary agility."
Entire Reuters article: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/08/us-airbus-leahy-idUSTRE7171ME20110208?pageNumber=1
- Jon O.
(Note: I drafted this post earlier, posted it in May 2011.)
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