Aerospace group EADS has appealed to European governments to let it prove itself as "a normal company", free of political meddling, as it pushes through painful restructuring at plane maker unit Airbus.
The call from French and German executives came on the eve of the Paris Air Show, where French President Nicolas Sarkozy is expected to set out his vision for European aerospace amid doubts over the future of a sensitive EADS shareholder pact.
EADS has been plagued by disagreements between French and German shareholders, politicians and staff over output delays at Airbus, which contributed to 10,000 job cuts and slowed down Europe's largest industrial project, the A380 superjumbo.
The A380 and a weak dollar put Airbus in the red in 2006. Internal tensions were matched by political wrestling over the location of job cuts in the four countries in which Airbus operates factories France, Germany, Britain and Spain when its Power8 restructuring plan was being negotiated this year.
"EADS is often portrayed as a crisis-ridden Franco-German company. In fact its creation was a good foundation, and for that we have to thank our shareholders," EADS co-chief executive Louis Gallois said at a media briefing on Friday. "We are working every day and governance in the day-to-day business is working," he said. Details of the briefing were embargoed for publication on Saturday.
EADS was set up in 2000 by pooling aerospace assets mainly managed by French conglomerate Lagardere and German car firm DaimlerChrysler. The French government has a stake though its powers are limited in a shareholder pact. But calls for a new pact have been mounting as politicians deplore being handcuffed by the old pact and DaimlerChrysler and Lagardere gradually pull back from aerospace, creating fears of a vacuum needing to be filled by elusive new partners.
There is also pressure to simplify the Franco-German power-sharing rules that ensure EADS has two chief executives one from each nation and two chairmen instead of just one.
Highlighting the importance of EADS in ties between Europe's two leading industrial powers, Sarkozy discussed Airbus with Chancellor Angela Merkel on the day he was inaugurated last month. They plan a joint tour of Airbus headquarters in July. Sarkozy is due to visit the Paris air show on June 23 but is unlikely to announce immediate changes to the EADS pact.
In a dilemma for EADS, industry executives fear reopening the pact could paralyse EADS and rekindle Franco-German tensions. But ignoring the issue might make it more difficult for the group to attract funds from the market in the future.
Gallois, who combines his co-CEO role with direct control of Airbus where he has banned country flags to help root out nationalism, described the company he would most like to see: "A more normal company where governments have legitimate interests but don't interfere in management decisions; the governance of an integrated company and not a joint-venture."
German co-CEO Tom Enders acknowledged "fissures" in EADS but said the industry as a whole had shown it could secure national interests without public ownership or convoluted rules. "We have often said it would be better to have one CEO and one chairman, but have also said that we need to be patient because this is not necessarily the right point in time."
Gallois and Enders were speaking at marathon media briefings before the world's largest air show at Le Bourget on June 18-23. EADS, the world's No 2 aerospace firm which also makes missiles, helicopters and rockets, took pains to demonstrate that its global non-Airbus business remained healthy.
Determined to set an example, Gallois has ordered that EADS cuts back on entertainment at the biennial air show and provides one chalet for pundits and customers instead of the usual two.