A CEO shuffle is taking place as David Joyce retires from his position as Vice Chair of GE and President and CEO of GE Aviation. Succeeding Joyce is Embraer's John Slattery, who is the current President and CEO of Embraer Commercial Aviation.

David Joyce retires from GE

Joyce has been at GE for 40 years. For the last 12 years, he has served as President and CEO of GE Aviation. Under his time, the engine maker's portfolio has expanded to include now ten different engine families.

During his time at GE, Joyce helped grow GE Aviation's revenue from $16.5 billion to a substantial $33 billion, with its backlog increasing from $26 billion to a whopping $270 billion. At the same time, engines have become more efficient, and advanced technologies have been implemented across commercial and military spectrums.

David Joyce
David Joyce is retiring after 40 years at GE. Photo: Getty Images

GE Aviation taps Embraer CEO

Embraer's current commercial aviation chief, John Slattery, will replace David Joyce effective from July 13th. At Embraer, Slattery led expansions of the E-Jet program with a 45% growth in operators and a backlog growth of 36%. Under his lead, Embraer received certification of the E190-E2 ahead of schedule, with better technical specifications, and, most impressive for a new aircraft, under budget.

Slattery will fully assume his role as President and CEO of GE Aviation on September 1st of this year. Mr. Joyce will become the non-executive chair of GE Aviation through December 31st. Into 2021, he will serve as a strategic advisor to GE Aviation.

EmbraerE195-E2
Embraer's E-Jet is the latest aircraft to come from the Brazilian manufacturer. Photo: Getty Images

Embraer stated that Slattery was leaving Embraer for an opportunity with "one of the company's main partners in the industry." Slattery has served as the head of Embraer's commercial aviation division since July of 2016. Before that, since 2012, he served as the Chief Commercial Officer of the commercial aviation arm.

Alexandre Silva, Chairman of the Board at Embraer, offered the following statement,

"John has played a central role at Embraer during a challenging time, and we thank him for his dedication and tireless service to the company, as well as its customers, employees, and partners. Fortunately, the industry will keep counting on him as he will continue to work in the aviation sector."

Replacing John Slattery

The Brazilian aircraft manufacturer has selected Arjan Meijer to become the new President and CEO of Embraer Commercial Aviation. Since 2017, Meijer served as Chief Commercial Officer of the commercial aviation arm. As CCO, Meijer has held responsibility for global marketing and sales functions across six different regions and has helped the company achieve 35 airline deals.

Boeing-Embraer Getty
After a fallout with Boeing, Embraer is reintegrating its commercial aviation arm. Photo: Getty Images.

In 2016, he started with Embraer as Vice President of Commercial Aviation for Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Russia. Before joining Embraer, he served for 15 years with KLM as Vice President of Technical Services and Fleet Development at KLM's regional subsidiary KLM Cityhopper– a major Embraer operator and customer.

Moving forward, Embraer is starting its restructuring process and reintegrating the commercial aviation business. This comes after a cooperation deal with Boeing fell through in which the manufacturer would work with the American giant on developing and selling new aircraft. Currently, Embraer is examining developing a brand new turboprop for a partnership.

What do you think about this CEO shuffle? Let us know in the comments!