The former Bombardiers who have been with Hydro-Québec since 2015 mostly had round-trip tickets, it seems. It is now Éric Filion, who left his position as executive VP at Hydro last week, who is returning to the aircraft manufacturer.
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Mr. Filion has been appointed Executive Vice President, Programs and Supply Chain, a “newly created” position at Bombardier. He will oversee Bombardier’s supplier relationships and lead the improvement of the competitiveness of aircraft in production, according to a statement from Bombardier.
The one who was executive vice-president and chief operating officer of Hydro-Québec until last week had worked for Bombardier between 2011 and 2016, before joining Hydro-Québec as vice-president.
He will officially leave this position on February 17, 2023 and will take up his new role at Bombardier three days later.
“Bombing” of Hydro-Quebec
When he took office in 2015 as CEO of Hydro-Québec, the ex-president of Bombardier Business Aircraft Éric Martel happily went to his ex-employer to fill the organization chart of his senior management.
No less than 50% of executives recruited to the positions of senior directors worked at Bombardier just before making the jump to Hydro-Quebec, according to a count in the Journal at the time. Mr. Martel had also recruited four new senior vice-presidents or presidents of subsidiaries in five years, three of which came from Bombardier: Marc Boucher, David Murray and Éric Filion.
When Éric Martel left Hydro in 2020 to return to Bombardier, David Murray followed him shortly following. It is now Éric Filion’s turn to return to the aircraft manufacturer. Marc Boucher left for SNC-Lavalin in December 2021.
“We are witnessing a kind of ‘bombardization’ of Hydro-Québec”, noted at the time the president of the Professional Syndicate of Hydro-Québec Engineers (SPIHQ), Nicolas Cloutier.
Management changes
In addition to the appointment of Mr. Filion, Bombardier also announced other appointments within its management team.
“As we continue to meet and even exceed our goals, now is the perfect time to reorganize key management functions to ensure we continue the momentum through our strong foundations,” said Eric Martel, President and CEO of Bombardier.
Thus, Jean-Christophe Gallagher will hold the position of Executive Vice-President, Aircraft Sales and Bombardier Defense.
Paul Sislian has been appointed Executive Vice President, After-Sales Service and Strategy, while David Murray will assume the position of Executive Vice President, Manufacturing, IT and Bombardier Operational Excellence System.
For his part, Michel Ouellette will lead the Engineering and Product Development team until his retirement scheduled for later in 2023.
All of these appointments will take effect on February 20.