Top Managers Leave Airbus, EADS

With Airbus' A380 superjumbo jet turning into more and more of an albatross, the plane maker and its biggest shareholder are shaking up senior management.

Noel Forgeard, the co-chief executive of European Aeronautic Defence & Space and the CEO of Airbus until last year, stepped down Sunday. EADS, which owns an 80% stake in Airbus, is scrambling to win back investor confidence after announcing last month that production problems would cause a second major delay in A380 deliveries. The U.K.'s BAE Systems owns the remaining 20% of Airbus.

Louis Gallois, who heads France's SNCF state railway and is an EADS board member, will take over Forgeard's post and work together with the other co-chief executive, Tom Enders. ...