Spanish engineer and executive Amparo Moraleda has assumed the nonexecutive chairmanship of Airbus’s board of directors, in a succession announced last April. She becomes the first woman and the first person who is neither French nor German to hold the position.
Moraleda succeeds René Obermann, who is leaving the top governing body of the aerospace and defense group. Obermann will remain on SAP’s supervisory board, which he will go on to chair.
Board reshuffle
The change in chairmanship coincides with a broader board renewal. Christophe Fouquet, chief executive of semiconductor equipment maker ASML, will serve as a nonexecutive director for the remainder of Obermann’s term and will seek ratification for a further three years at the annual general meeting scheduled for April 2027.
Jean-Pierre Clamadieu has decided not to seek reelection. Airbus has selected Florent Menegaux, chief executive of Michelin, to replace him. Menegaux will also seek a three-year term as an independent director at the 2027 meeting. Moraleda and Oliver Zipse will likewise seek to renew their positions for another three-year term.
The new chairwoman will hand her previous oversight responsibilities to Mark Dunkerley, who has been appointed lead independent director and chairman of the Remuneration, Nomination and Governance Committee. Moraleda said her goal will be to help Airbus preserve its ability to respond to future opportunities and challenges.
A nonexecutive chairmanship
Moraleda has served as an independent Airbus director since 2015. She holds an industrial engineering degree from ICAI at Universidad Pontificia Comillas and has completed IESE’s General Management Program. Her career includes roles at IBM and Iberdrola, as well as board positions at CaixaBank, Vodafone, Solvay and Forvia.
The succession follows Airbus’s close of the first half of 2026 with revenue of €33.176 billion, up 12% from the same period a year earlier. Net profit reached €2.243 billion, a year-over-year increase of 47.08%.
France and Germany retain the largest public stakes in the group: Sogepa controls 10.83% of the share capital, while German public bank KfW holds 10.82%. Spain owns 4.09% through the Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales.
In Spain, Airbus employs more than 14,000 people and operates sites in Getafe, Illescas, Albacete, El Puerto de Santa María, Tablada and San Pablo, in addition to Airbus Crisa’s facilities in Tres Cantos. Moraleda’s appointment coincides with the end of three months of work stoppages, protests and mobilizations, after employees approved the company’s latest proposal in a referendum.
