New CEO Tapped for Jet-Engine Company

"LONDON -- Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC said it appointed Tufan Erginbilgic as its new chief executive, naming a longtime oil industry executive to lead the jet-engine maker's recovery from the pandemic and position it for the energy transition.

The London-listed company said Mr. Erginbilgic, who spent more than two decades at BP PLC, would take the helm at the start of 2023. He succeeds current CEO Warren East who said in February that he would step down at the end of the year after about eight years in the role.

The appointment comes as Rolls-Royce mounts a recovery from a pandemic that has hit the aviation sector hard. The company derives most of its income from manufacturing and servicing engines for Boeing Co. and Airbus SE's biggest wide-body aircraft, which are typically operated on long-haul international routes.

The pandemic grounded many of those big planes and even now, as the industry emerges from the Covid-era travel slump, demand for those aircraft is trailing the quicker recovery for smaller jets.

In response, Rolls-Royce -- a British blue chip that shed its luxury-car business years ago -- has announced thousands of job cuts and sought to raise billions of dollars, including through disposals, to bolster its finances.

The CEO switch also comes as Rolls-Royce's customers are dealing with the transition to lower-carbon energy. Mr. Erginbilgic has a firm understanding of the challenges and opportunities presented by the drive for low-carbon technologies, Rolls-Royce Chairwoman Anita Frew said.

Rolls-Royce itself has pledged to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in its operations by 2030, excluding product testing, and joined a United Nations-backed campaign to enable the sectors in which it operates to achieve net-zero carbon by 2050.

Mr. Erginbilgic, a U.K. and Turkish national, is a partner at Global Infrastructure Partners, a private-equity firm that focuses on large-scale investments in infrastructure businesses. During five of his more than 20 years at BP, Mr. Erginbilgic was part of the oil giant's executive team." [1]

1. Business News: New CEO Tapped for Jet-Engine Company
Stiff, Peter. 
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 27 July 2022: B.5.