GE Aviation names new top leader

Company has about 9,000 employees in southwest Ohio, many at Dayton-area sites

GE Aviation has named a new chief executive.

H. Lawrence Culp Jr. has been named CEO effective immediately, in addition to his current role as chairman and CEO of Boston-based GE, the company said Monday morning.

John Slattery, previous president and CEO of Evendale-based GE Aviation, has been named executive vice president and chief commercial officer of the business.

The company also announced that Russell Stokes, previous senior vice president of GE and president and CEO of GE Aviation Services, has been named president and CEO of Commercial Engines and Services, with expanded operational responsibility for GE Aviation’s largest segment, the company said in a release.

Further, Rahul Ghai, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Otis Worldwide Corp. has been named CFO of GE Aviation, as Shane Wright, who had been CFO and chief operating officer of GE Aviation, prepares to retire after 34 years of service to GE.

Slattery, Stokes and Ghai will report to Culp.

The leadership shakeup comes after GE’s Nov. 9, 2021 announcement of its plan to separate century-old GE into three independent companies focused on the growth sectors of aviation, health care and energy.

“GE Aviation is an exceptional business in growing commercial and military sectors that is shaping the future of flight,” Culp said. “There is tremendous opportunity in aviation over the coming years, and the board and I decided it is the right time for me to take on this expanded role and work even more closely with the team to support our customers, meet the unprecedented demand ramp, and prepare for GE Aviation’s future as an independent public company.”

“It has been an honor leading GE Aviation over the last two years,” Slattery said. “I am excited to be part of a tremendous leadership team as we move closer to launching as a standalone business.”

GE Aviation has about 300 employees at the EPISCenter on the University of Dayton campus, and hundreds of additional employees in Vandalia. Before the pandemic, GE Aviation’s Unison division had about 800 employees across seven facilities within 10 square miles in Beavercreek. A Unison sales force also worked at The Greene, also in Beavercreek.

The Unison workforce is being consolidated into a new facility on Research Boulevard, in the Miami Valley Research Park.

GE Aviation and its joint CFM International, a 50/50 company of GE and Safran Aircraft Engines, also has a presence in Butler County’s West Chester Twp.

In all, the company has about 9,000 employees in Southwestern Ohio and about 1,200 in the Dayton area, a company spokesman said Monday.

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