ATR has appointed Damien Proust as Senior Vice President, Engineering and Head of Design Organisation, with effect from May 1, 2026, as part of its ongoing leadership alignment within the engineering function.
Proust will report directly to Chief Executive Officer Nathalie Tarnaud Laude, taking over the role from Daniel Cuchet.
Cuchet is set to move to Airbus, where he will assume responsibilities as Chief Engineer for the A380 and A310/300 in-service aircraft, in addition to leading legacy programmes.
Proust brings more than two decades of engineering and leadership experience from Airbus. Since 2018, he has held the position of Vice President and Head of Propulsion Airframe, where he has overseen a broad scope of activities, including research and development, production, and in-service support. His role has included pylons and nacelles across multiple aircraft programmes, placing him at the intersection of design, manufacturing and operational performance.
In addition to his operational role, Proust has also been active in industry representation and workforce engagement. He currently serves as Technology and Engineering Senior Delegate in France, where he represents over 6,300 engineers on matters related to social dialogue, safety and institutional frameworks. In parallel, he holds the position of Vice President at TOMPASSE, an aerospace industry association based in the South-West region of France, contributing to regional industry coordination and development.
Earlier in his career, Proust held several leadership roles within the A350 programme, working across key structural and integration areas, including fuselage and empennage engineering, as well as overall airframe integration. His involvement in these programmes reflects experience in managing complex engineering systems within large-scale aircraft development environments.
A graduate of ICAM Toulouse in 1998, Proust began his professional career as a consultant at Accenture before transitioning into the aerospace sector with Airbus, where he has since built his career across multiple technical and managerial roles.
At ATR, his appointment comes at a stage where engineering leadership remains central to the company’s development trajectory, particularly in areas related to product evolution, operational performance and long-term sustainability objectives. The company has indicated that his experience, along with his collaborative leadership approach, is expected to support its continued development and align with its broader ambitions in regional aviation.
The transition also reflects continuity within the wider Airbus-linked ecosystem, with both the incoming and outgoing executives moving into roles that remain closely tied to aircraft engineering, programme support and lifecycle management.
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