Toulouse-based jetmaker Airbus is poised to get its first German boss under a deal taking shape on Friday, but parent group EADS says no decision has been made. Barring last-minute upsets, Gustav Humbert, 55, the Airbus number two who heads its operations, is seen having the inside track to run the company. A decision would settle weeks of Franco-German arguments over who should get the post. "You have to keep Humbert on your radar," a source at major EADS shareholder DaimlerChrysler said, although he described the situation as in flux and said a final decision would emerge "in a few more days".
German daily Handelsblatt reported that major German and French shareholders of EADS, Europe's largest aerospace group, had agreed on Humbert as the new chief of Airbus.
EADS has given its new top management until June 1 to find a new Airbus chief and propose a new structure. "A decision has not been made yet," an EADS spokesman said.
DaimlerChrysler declined to comment on personnel issues.
The decision on a new Airbus chief is needed to solve a leadership vacuum left by the appointment of the current Airbus chief, Noel Forgeard, as co-chief executive of EADS.
French sources have said they are willing to envisage Humbert in charge of Airbus as long as he reports to Forgeard, but months of in-fighting have left a sour taste on both sides of a company once held up as a symbol of Franco-German harmony. France has until now jealously guarded the Airbus post, and the issue is particularly sensitive there as voters decide on Sunday whether to back a new European Union charter.
Industry watchers say EADS chose the June 1 deadline to avoid clashing with the run-up to the May 29 referendum.
The upper house of Germany's parliament threw its support behind the new EU constitution on Friday, and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was due to fly to Toulouse later in the day to campaign for a "yes" vote in France's referendum.
Industry sources have said Humbert could be buttressed by a French deputy, Gerard Blanc. But French newspaper La Tribune said the Airbus executive - once considered as a successor to Forgeard - was disillusioned with the process and wanted to quit. Airbus had no comment.
Airbus grabbed leadership of the world aircraft industry from Boeing two years ago, but is under increasing pressure as Boeing stacks up large orders such as the sale of 60 aircraft to Indonesian budget carrier Lion Air on Thursday.
On Friday, EADS shares were up 0.4 percent in Paris at 23.71 euros.
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