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Jeff Knittel
Chairman and CEO
Airbus Americas, Inc. (Ret.)
C. Jeffrey (Jeff) Knittel is the Chairman and CEO of Airbus Americas, Inc. In addition, he is the Head of Region for the Americas and as such reports directly to the Airbus CEO. He is responsible for Airbus’ commercial aircraft and commercial services businesses throughout the Americas, as well as for providing leadership for the company’s market leading helicopter business and its space and defence unit in North America. With 10,000 employees, Airbus Americas encompasses regional corporate offices; engineering, training, and innovation centers; MROs, spare parts distribution facilities; imagery drone services and large-scale manufacturing facilities producing commercial aircraft, helicopters, and satellites.
Additionally, Jeff chairs Acubed by Airbus, the company’s Silicon Valley-based innovation arm; is a board member of Airbus Ventures, which invests in early-stage technologies across the globe; and is a member of the Airbus Canada Limited Partnership Board – a multibillion-dollar joint venture between Airbus and the Province of Quebec to procure parts, assemble, and market the world’s most modern commercial aircraft, the A220.
Jeff has more than 35 years of experience in aerospace and transportation finance. Before joining Airbus, Mr. Knittel was Chief Executive Officer of C2 Aviation Capital (C2), a global organisation focused on acquiring, leasing and managing commercial aircraft. Prior to leading C2 Aviation Capital, he served in increasingly senior leadership positions at CIT Group Inc. His final position there was President of CIT Transportation Finance, a $21 billion diversified organisation that provided leasing and financing solutions for the aerospace, rail and maritime industries, including commercial airlines, business aircraft operators, railroads and shippers.
Jeff is currently the Vice Chair of the Board and Chair of the Nominations Committee of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, on the Board of Governors of the USO, and a member of the Board and Executive Committee of the Atlantic Council. He recently completed his second 3-year term on the Board of Trustees of the National WWII Museum. Jeff is a former President and emeritus member of the Board of Governors of the Wings Club and the former Chairman of the Board of Just One Break, a not-for-profit institution founded by Eleanor Roosevelt for the disabled and later merged with The Viscardi Center.
Jeff holds a bachelor’s degree in aviation management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. In addition, he graduated from the Advanced Management Program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.