Thomas Enders, co-chief executive of EADS, the aerospace group, waded into the row over Airbus, telling investors yesterday that any crisis at the aircraft maker meant a crisis for the entire group.
Dr Enders broke his silence in an attempt to head off calls for the resignation of his counterpart Noël Forgeard. M Forgeard has come under fire for selling stock in EADS, which owns 80 per cent of Airbus, for €2.5 million (£1.7 million) in March, shortly before it emerged that there would be fresh delays in the delivery of the A380 superjumbo, the world’s largest airliner.
Dr Enders, 47, took the top job last June. A graduate of the University of Bonn and of the University of California, Los Angeles, where he studied economics, politics and history, he received his doctorate in 1987. His previous roles include a stint on the planning staff of the German Defence Minister and posts with the Research Institute of the German Council on Foreign Affairs and the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.
Dr Enders has served with the 1st Airborne Division of the Bundeswehr and is a major in the army reserve forces.