FRANCE and Germany have been accused of playing politics with the European aerospace industry, amid squabbling over the appointment of a new chairman of Airbus.

With German and French shareholders vetoing each other’s candidates for the job, Europe’s aircraft manufacturer could be rudderless as it enters a crucial period: the A380 superjumbo is to make its first flight in the next fortnight.

Fabrice Brégier, the French chairman of Eurocopter, has emerged as the favourite to take over at Airbus, but the German side is demanding other top jobs in return for approving his appointment. A boardroom meeting to name the new chairman will be held next week, although insiders say that it could be postponed if the sides fail to resolve their differences.

The latest bickering echoes the dispute over the promotion of Noël Forgeard, the current chairman of Airbus, who will become joint head of its parent company, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space group (EADS), next month.

“It’s a playground brawl,” said Doug McVitie, an aerospace analyst who previously worked for Airbus. “It happens every time and it’s built into the nature of the company. There is a clash between national cultures.

“In France, everybody considers [Airbus] a French company, and they would never allow its outward-looking control to pass out of French hands.”

EADS, which has an 80 per cent stake in Airbus — BAE Systems holds the other 20 per cent — was created five years ago to reflect a Franco-German balance.

DaimlerChrysler, the German shareholder, has a 30 per cent stake and the French shareholders, Lagardère and the French Government, hold 15 per cent each. Each side appoints a joint-chief executive of EADS. But with the French and German governments meddling, the management structure has failed to produce the intended harmony.

Last year M Forgeard angered the Germans by calling for an end to the double-headed management team at EADS and suggested that he could do the job on his own when the two current chief executives, Philippe Camus and Rainer Hertrich, step down in three weeks’ time.

DaimlerChrysler dismissed the idea and promoted Thomas Enders, head of EADS’s defence division, as Herr Hertrich’s replacement. Herr Enders was briefed to stand up to M Forgeard.

The discussions over M Forgeard’s successor at Airbus have now become acrimonious. French shareholders wanted to hand the post to Airbus’s executive vice-president of operations, Gérard Blanc, who is French. He was vetoed by DaimlerChrysler.

Germany nominated its own candidate, Gustav Humbert, Airbus’s chief operating officer. He was rejected by the French.

Paris responded by putting forward two outsiders, Louis Gallois, head of SNCF. the French railway network, and Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, number two at Air France. Neither has won German backing.

However, M Brégier, the Eurocopter chairman, may have won favour despite qualms over his inexperience. “He’s the least worst person now,” said Mr McVitie. “But they need someone of high calibre — someone who has Airbus in his veins — and I think they’re going to settle for a compromise candidate.”

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