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Bombardier Commercial Aircraft announced the appointment of two accomplished senior sales leaders to focus on capturing the growth and replacement opportunities in two key markets, namely the Middle East and Africa, and North America.
At the same time, further emphasis is being put on regaining Commercial Aircraft’s share of its core regional aircraft market with the creation of a new dedicated regional aircraft position within the organization.
Effective immediately, Jean-Paul Boutibou is appointed vice-president, Sales, Middle East and Africa; Christopher Jones is appointed vice-president, Sales, North America; and Kevin Smith will undertake the new role of vice-president, Regional Aircraft.
Boutibou, Jones, and Smith will all report to Colin Bole, senior vice-president, Commercial.
“This is a crucial year for Commercial Aircraft as we concentrate our transformation efforts on delivering a flawless C Series customer experience, whilst continuing to seize the many sales opportunities being presented in key world markets. Jean-Paul and Chris join our commercial aircraft sales team as we expand our presence and promote our portfolio of Q Series, CRJ Series and C Series aircraft around the world,” Bole.
“The 20-year forecast for the North America and Middle East and Africa regions accounts for over a third of new deliveries and as we aim to increase our agility, focus and proximity to these markets, their leadership will be instrumental in capturing market share.
“We also want to focus sharply on our regional aircraft sales strategy and Kevin, one of the most experienced and knowledgeable professionals in the regional aircraft industry, will provide renewed momentum to this portfolio,” added Bole.
About the leaders
Based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the past 15 years, Boutibou has extensive experience in the aviation industry in the region.
Prior to joining Bombardier, Boutibou was the managing partner at ABJAD Group for over 12 years specializing in aircraft trading and after-market support services. Previously, he served as vice-president, Marketing at International Air Finance Corporation (IAFC) and worked with UTA (Union de Transports Aériens) French Airlines (pre-merger with Air France).
Boutibou also spent over 12 years at Airbus as sales director for Middle-East and Africa.
Jones brings with him nearly 30 years of aircraft OEM (original equipment manufacturer) experience, and joins Bombardier from Airbus where he recently occupied the position of vice-president, Sales—North America. Previous posts at Airbus include vice-president, Marketing and prior to that, he was posted at BAE Systems selling and marketing the Avro RJ and Jetstream families.
A longtime Bombardier executive, Smith boasts more than 30 years of regional aircraft experience and has held numerous leadership positions in the areas of marketing, structured finance, leasing and sales.
He has been influential in leading many successful Q-Series and CRJ Series aircraft sales campaigns across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Most recently, as vice-president, Sales, The Americas, he was lauded for his contribution to the Delta Air Lines C Series aircraft campaign.
