Jean Pierson
Pierson succeeded Bernard Lathière as managing director of Airbus in March 1985. Lathière had lost his job due to a conflict between the German and French shareholders of the company. At the time, Airbus was not a significant competitor to the then market leader, Boeing, which held a more than seventy percent market share in the commercial jetliner market. Airbus was often dismissed by market leader Boeing as a "minor nuisance" whose primary charter was to drive European jobs. Pierson's actions as leader included broadening the company's range of commercial jets and establishing a brand that could compete on quality. In a move to break into the U.S. commercial aviation market, Pierson recruited native-English talent and had a former US Transportation Secretary, Alan S. Boyd, take position as the North American leader. He also set up a pilot training centre in Florida as a finishing school for pilots of Airbus jets. In one of Airbus's first big wins, Northwest Airlines, which would later merge with Delta Air Lines, ordered 100 Airbus A320 jets. In another big win, US Airways, which later merged with American Airlines, placed an order for 400 jets in 1997. Pierson is famously known to have unbuckled his belt and dropped his trousers when at the last minute, a discount was demanded by the airline's CEO Stephen Wolf. Wolf is said to have ended the negotiation at that point, and signed the contract for 400 jets.