Diehl Aviation CEO Rainer von Borstel (pictured above left), who has held the position since 2010, has announced he will retire at the end of this month, handing over the leadership of the organisation to COO Josef Köcher. 

Köcher joined the company in June last year; he will remain as COO, taking on the CEO tasks in addition to his previous responsibilities. He will also succeed von Borstel as a member of the Diehl executive board.

During his 11 years at the helm of Diehl Aviation, von Borstel oversaw a successful growth period for the company, integrating several industrial departments over the years and managing critical stages of Diehl’s contribution to major new commercial aircraft programmes such as the Airbus A350 XWB and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Also during von Borstel’s leadership, Diehl Aviation multiplied its business volume and grew to become a company with an annual turnover in the region of €1.5 billion. At the same time, Diehl increased its global presence in order to benefit from customer proximity in markets around the world, opening new offices for example in the US at Charleston, South Carolina. According to the company, all this ensured that Diehl consolidated its position as a leading supplier in the aerospace industry worldwide over the last decade.

Most recently, von Borstel launched a product innovation and restructuring project in response to the global crisis caused by the Corona pandemic. With these corporate restructuring measures well under way, von Borstel will now hand over the leadership of Diehl Aviation to Josef Köcher, who will lead the company into “the new era of a post-Corona environment”.

Before joining Diehl, Köcher spent two decades in several management positions at Airbus and ArianeGroup, most recently as head of production for aircraft & MRO Germany and head of site at Airbus Defence and Space in Manching. He holds degrees in Aerospace Engineering and Business Administration.

Last summer, Diehl Aviation received approval from Boeing to offer Buyer-Furnished-Equipment (BFE) products to airlines for installation on Boeing airplanes. BFE products are cabin interior elements that airlines procure directly from parts manufacturers, such as Diehl Aviation, for installation on newly built aircraft on the manufacturer’s final assembly line.