Henri Ziegler –The Success Behind Airbus

By Rob Russell

If a company ever owes its success to one family, it is from Airbus Industrie to Henri Ziegler and later, his son. A famous “Ecole Polytechnique graduate, Henri was born on 18 November 1906, in Limonges, France. He graduated from the prestigious École Polytechnique and the Sup’Aéro aerospace academy, and began his career as a test pilot. During the Second World War, under the code name Col. Vernon, Ziegler participated in a number of resistance operations.

Some 40 years ago, the European commercial aerospace industry was deeply fragmented and struggling to find its feet. Countries were working on their own projects and competing with each other. Few people had a clear vision of the way forward. Probably no one then would have predicted we would ever get to where we are now and become the leader in our industry. Competing projects, diverging industrial and government strategies and policies, very sceptical airlines, and an American dominance in the commercial aircraft market seemed to leave little room for hope.

However, in France, Germany and Great Britain, a small group of talented people kept the faith and worked hard behind the scenes. Despite all the obstacles, they were confident enough to turn their dream into reality. But they seemed rudderless, all pulling in their directions and needed someone who would bring them together in an effective team. A man, as convinced as they were of the quality of their project and the necessity of European cooperation in this vital field of technological and industrial endeavour. That man was to be Henri Ziegler.

By the 1960s, Henri Ziegler had already become a well-known figure within the European aviation community.

As an engineer and test pilot, he had played a key role in acquiring American aircraft, engines and equipment just before the war. Having joined the French Resistance, he twice travelled to England, where under his code name “Colonel Vernon”, he was appointed chief of staff of France’s Forces Françaises de l’Intérieur under General Koenig.

After the war, he was appointed managing director of Air France before becoming the senior adviser to the minister in charge of transport, and then the right-hand man of Jacques Chaban-Delmas. At the end of 1956, Henri Ziegler was appointed President of Breguet and Air Alpes.

Over the years, Henri Ziegler became well-known for his boundless energy, his stubborn optimism and his willingness to make tough decisions. In the middle of 1968, he was to become the CEO of Sud Aviation. It was the time when the company had just rolled out the first Concorde. The Franco-British supersonic transport aircraft was capturing the public’s attention and imagination.

But Henri Ziegler’s interests lay elsewhere…. He accepted the appointment at Sud Aviation…but only on the condition that he could also pursue a “less glamorous programme” that seemingly had little or no support at the time, the Airbus A300. It had been initiated two years before and placed under the responsibility of Roger Béteille for Sud Aviation, Jim Thorne for Hawker Siddeley, and Felix Kracht for the German industry.

But, it had failed to attract support from the airlines as well as from most of the political decision-makers, especially in Great Britain and in France, where everybody was captivated by Concorde.

Nonetheless, Henri Ziegler was utterly convinced that the Airbus programme was more important investment for the future of the company, and indeed European aviation. Reluctantl,y the French government gave him a mere six months to come up with a credible proposal to save the programme.

In a matter of weeks, Henri grasped the nature of the problem and arrived at a solution. To cut costs and reduce risks, Henri Ziegler backed an internal feasibility study for a reduced-size twin-engined, double aisle aircraft with a capacity of about 250 passengers, and powered by the same engines as would be used by the new trijets then under development in the United States.

Three months after his appointment as head of Sud Aviation, he presented the revamped, and far more affordable, project to his British and German industrial partners and secured their support. The A300B was born, and for the time being at least, Airbus had been saved.

But the race had only just begun. The A300B was still a project and not yet a programme. The governments remained to be convinced to finance the operation. The commercial and industrial structures had still to be formalised. And last but not least, the first customers had to be found! With his irrepressible enthusiasm and tenacity, Henri Ziegler cleared all the crucial hurdles.

Henri Ziegler was pressing ahead to secure the first order. In August 1970, Air France announced its decision to introduce the A300B in its fleet. At the end of the year, the GIE was created, and naturally, Henri Ziegler was appointed CEO, while Franz-Josef Strauss, who on the German side had played a key role in gathering the necessary political support for the programme, took over the Supervisory Board of Airbus Industrie.

For five more years, Henri Ziegler headed Airbus through the difficulties of its infancy. With the support of the same small group that had made Airbus possible, he led Airbus through the crisis triggered by the first oil shock, built robust management and organisational structures and laid the foundations for its future commercial growth.

Henri had the vision that production and finalisation of the aircraft could no longer be done as it had been for Concorde, with two Final Assembly Lines and two separate Flight test teams. He foresaw the need for a single integrated team composed of the French, Germans and British who would build the components of the aircraft, within their countries and then final assembly, test flying and delivery would be in Toulouse. This had already been shown to work on the military Transall C160 programme, the predecessor of the A400M.

Henri’s son continues the Ziegler legacy

That programme had brought together talented and experienced Flight Test personnel from various nations who later came to Airbus. And to lead this new team, Henri proposed the man best suited for the job, who happened to be his son, Bernard. Bernard had been with the French Centre d’Essais en Vol (CEV) for about six years, flight testing all types of planes ranging from military fighters to civil airliners. Bernard had been a fighter pilot for ten years in the French Air Force and therefore brought exactly the right experience and the vital “can-do” mentality to lead this European flight test team, initially under the guidance of the late Max Fishl.

Bernard helped build a vital part of Airbus - the integrated Flight Test Team. In the late 70s, he was appointed Senior Vice President Flight and Support, before being appointed Senior Vice President Engineering in 1985.

Bernard continued the Ziegler legacy in Airbus, which was driven by a commitment and dedication second to none. Like his father, he had a vision of the future opportunities for Airbus.

Bernard adopted many of the beliefs his father was developing and was the success behind the two-man crew cockpit on the A310. He was also instrumental in the game-changing idea of implementing Fly by Wire and the side stick concept on the A320. Each of these was considered a revolution in the aviation community. Who remembers the howls of criticism about this concept and that it would never work and would cause so many crashes? Today no-one any longer questions his vision – or its legacy in terms of communality, operational efficiency and increased safety.

To honour the Ziegler family and what they brought to Airbus and indeed the whole commercial aviation world, Airbus decided to name their new delivery centre, at the Toulouse Airport, after Henri Ziegler. This new delivery Centre is built to cope with customer’s requirements, increasing production rates and with all variants of Airbus, from the smallest to the largest.

Without the vision of Henri and the innovative thoughts of his son, Bernard, there is no doubt Airbus would not be where it is now. Henri initiated what is today a vibrant, global business with lots of growth ahead, with lots of challenges and lots of opportunities for its 55.000 employees. Bernard stepped up and took it to new levels and ensured it would be a major role player in the aviation world.

Henri died in Paris on the 23rd of July 1998

Bernard died in Paris on the 4th of May 2021