Management team

Romain Trapp was appointed to the role in July 2019.

In this position, Romain is responsible for developing and executing the overall company strategy in the U.S. and Canadian helicopter market, managing the company’s resources, meeting key performance objectives, and overseeing the 1,000 Airbus Helicopters employees in the region.

Romain’s experience within Airbus spans more than two decades, where he has held various positions in finance, program management and general management throughout Germany, France, Canada and the U.S. 

He has spent the last 11 years in North America for Airbus Helicopters, first in 2008 as CFO of Airbus Helicopters Inc., out of Grand Prairie, Texas, then President of Airbus Helicopters Canada since 2013. He became Airbus Helicopters Inc.’s Chief Operating Officer in 2016.

He graduated from France’s Ecole Normale Superieure and earned a master’s degree from the University Paris Sorbonne in finance, economics and econometrics. He is also a graduate from the Stanford Executive Program in California. He is happily married and has two grown sons.

Niko Szodruch leads customer support for Airbus helicopter operators across North America. In his executive role, he is responsible for supporting the more than 800 customers across the region, analyzing and understanding the service needs of current and potential customers, and proposing the right level of solutions in line with their unique needs and an evolving market environment. In addition, he leads development of the company’s strategic service plan to help drive improvements as well as grow and sustain business.

Szodruch earned a combined engineering and business degree from the Berlin Institute of Technology, Germany. He joined Airbus Helicopters in Spain in 2005 as a maintenance engineer and served in various roles in Support and Services. Szodruch was selected for an Airbus leadership training program and worked at Airbus Helicopters sites in Spain, Germany and France.

Szodruch moved to Germany in 2009 to work with the Offer and Contract Preparation team in Sales. Before moving to the U.S. in 2022, he served as Vice President of Maintenance and Repair Operations based in Germany, where he oversaw Airbus Helicopters’ global helicopter maintenance and retrofit business.

Maximilian Thomasius serves as Chief Financial Officer of Airbus Helicopters North America.

Prior to joining Airbus Helicopters, Inc., Max held the role of Vice President and Head of Global Business Controlling for Airbus Helicopters in Marseille, France, where he headed all Finance organizations for over 30 subsidiaries. He has been part of the global Airbus team in various roles since 2010 and has served on several boards, including Joint Ventures and Patria Oyj.

His career started with General Electric (GE) going through its finance leadership training program including Corporate Audit Staff with worldwide missions in the diverse GE businesses.

Max earned a Master of Science degree in Economics from Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Spain, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Politics from the University of York in the United Kingdom. Additionally, he served in the Germany Army and is currently Lieutenant Colonel in the reserves.

Jeff Trang manages AHI’s engineering, certification and aviation safety departments, as well as flight test, production and training operations in both Texas and Mississippi.

Jeff joined AHI in 2010 as Chief Test Pilot, where he led a significant expansion of the Flight Test department by coordinating the personnel, instrumentation, analysis tools and test processes with those of Airbus Helicopter in France and Germany.

A retired Lieutenant Colonel, Jeff served 21 years in the U.S. Army and flew the AH-1 Cobra and AH-64 Apache. In 1990, he deployed to Kuwait during Operation Desert Shield.

Upon retiring from the Army in 2004, Jeff worked as a senior rotorcraft test pilot for the Federal Aviation Administration, validating rotorcraft for U.S. certification and developing airworthiness standards for rotorcraft, as well as their associated policy and guidance materials.

Jeff is a graduate of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. He later graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School and earned master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Texas A&M University and systems engineering from Southern Methodist University.

Teri Short serves as Vice President of Flight Operations and Engineering at Airbus Helicopters Inc. In this role, she manages the company’s engineering, certification and aviation safety departments, as well as flight test, production and training operations in both Texas and Mississippi.

Before joining Airbus, Teri held the position of Chief Operating Officer at United Rotorcraft, a division of Air Methods Corporation, responsible for the design, certification, manufacturing and installation of aircraft mission critical equipment and interiors. Prior to moving to United Rotorcraft, Teri served as Vice President of Engineering for Air Methods responsible for engineering and operational support of a fleet of more than 400 aircraft.

She spent seven years with Frontier Airlines as Senior Director of Technical Operations where she led engineering, aircraft acquisitions, maintenance programs, planning and reliability. Her airline career experience also included working at Continental Airlines, where she began her career as an engineer and eventually took responsibility for managing the systems engineering group.

Teri graduated from Western Michigan University with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering and Operations. She retired from the Army National Guard as a Lieutenant Colonel where she completed the master’s level Command and General Staff College.

In his function, Johannes leads the Civil Programs teams in the United States and Canada, managing product life cycles from Request For Proposal through Delivery. He helps drive customer satisfaction by achieving schedule, quality and budget targets.

Johannes joined the Airbus family in 2006, starting in the EADS Corporate Young Manager Program. He then worked as Manager for Strategy and Company Development at Airbus Helicopters in Marignane, France, before moving on to the United States as Sr. Manager on the UH-72A Lakota Program. In this function, Johannes led the development of the S&S Battalion MEP for the Army National Guard Lakota fleet. He then took on the role of Director for the Lakota Program, in which he held responsibility for all Engineering Services on the aircraft. Most recently, Johannes has been serving as Vice President, Civil Programs.

Johannes has Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Industrial Engineering and Management from Technische Universität in Berlin, Germany. He also earned a Master’s of Business Administration from Bowling Green State University in Ohio, and has studied in the Master’s of Engineering Management program at the University of Newcastle, Australia.

Rob joined Airbus Helicopters Inc. in 2008 and oversees all human resources, environmental health and safety activities for AHI’s facilities in Grand Prairie, Texas and Columbus, Mississippi. Rob also directs One Roof Recruitment for all U.S. Airbus operations.

A retired Air Force Chief Master Sergeant with 23 years of active service, Rob draws from his years of staffing, operations and personnel management experience to help develop and implement management practices that continue to meet the company’s strategic business needs. 

In addition to his full-time job with Airbus Helicopters Inc., Rob represents Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi as a member of the Chiefs Group. In 2016, he was selected as an Honorary Commander to the 14th Flying training wing. He also recently completed a four-year term serving as City Councilman and Police Commissioner for the city of Sulligent, Alabama and District 4. 

Treg Manning is Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Airbus Helicopters North America, overseeing sales and marketing for the commercial helicopter market in the United States and Canada.

Treg has more than 20 years of experience in the aviation and aerospace industry. He joined Airbus Helicopters in 2011 as Vice President of Commercial Sales and assumed his current role in 2014.

Previously, he served as Senior Vice President of Business Development for Air Medical Group Holdings, a major U.S. operator of air medical transport services.

From 1998 to 2007, Treg held a series of sales and marketing and executive posts with Bell Helicopter Textron in Fort Worth, Texas, including Executive Director of North America Sales and Executive Director of Strategic Marketing.

Treg began his career as an EMS paramedic and dispatcher for University Medical Center in Lubbock, Texas. He was drawn to the helicopter industry after an air medical team saved his family member’s life.

Treg earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Texas Tech University and a Master of Business Administration from Baylor University. He also completed the Executive Management Certificate from Fisher College of Business at Ohio State University.

Scott Tumpak is managing the company’s military rotorcraft operation in North America.

Until 2017, Scott was Senior Director for the UH-72A Lakota program, responsible for managing the production, modification and support activities for the Lakota contract with the U.S. Army. The Army has fielded more than 400 Lakota helicopters to date.

Previously, Scott worked as program manager for Airbus Helicopters H145M in Donauwoerth, Germany, leading development and production of this helicopter for international military customers.

Scott started his career at Avascent, a defense and aerospace consulting firm, before joining Airbus in 2005 to lead the market analysis function. He went on to work in strategy and program management and served as Chief of Staff to the Airbus corporate level CEO in North America, based in Washington, D.C. Scott also worked as Deputy Program Manager for the company’s Armed Aerial Scout development effort for the U.S. Army.

Scott graduated from Occidental College in Los Angeles, California with a degree in political science in 1997. He subsequently earned a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University in international economics and security studies in 2001, and in 2010 he went on to earn a fellowship from the University of Syracuse’s Maxwell School in national security studies.

Kevin Cabaniss is Vice President and Head of Legal & Compliance for Airbus Helicopters Inc. He also serves as the corporate Secretary.

His responsibilities include litigation management and support, ethics and compliance, corporate governance, export compliance, immigration and employment matters. As Chief Legal Officer, he also oversees the day-to-day legal support of executive management and all administrative and operational functions.

Kevin joined Airbus Helicopters Inc. in 2000 as its General Counsel and was named Vice President of Legal Affairs in 2003.

Before that, he worked for nearly 11 years in private practice in the Dallas office of Locke Lord LLP, where he began his career as an associate in the Litigation section in 1989 and became a partner in 1997. While there, Kevin defended clients in various types of commercial and tort litigation in state and federal courts. He first represented Airbus Helicopters Inc. in 1991.

Kevin graduated from the University of Texas School of Law in 1989 and earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Princeton University in 1986. He is a native of Dallas.

John manages Quality operations at Airbus Helicopters North America facilities in Texas, Mississippi and Canada. Supply Chain Managers, Inspectors, Quality Engineers, and post-delivery support personnel are the driving force to maximize our Customer’s Experience with Airbus Helicopters North America. They ensure civil and military customers receive world-class quality products and supporting documentation from our Final Assembly Lines, MRO, and Completion Centers.

John also oversees the Continuous Improvement staff of Industrial, Lean, and Manufacturing Engineers.  Six Sigma problem solving tools are embedded in the fabric of Airbus Helicopters North America's customer driven culture.  AHNA Quality oversees the AS9100 Quality Management Systems and FAA, DCMA, EASA, and Transport Canada Airworthiness and Certification approvals.

John has 37 years of aerospace experience working at Rockwell International, Northrop Grumman, and Vought Aircraft in R&D Engineering, Operations, Program Management, and Quality.

John graduated from the University of Tulsa with a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master’s degree in Engineering Management. He holds executive certificates from the Thunderbird School of International Management and Stanford University.

Melanie is responsible for defining and leading the strategic plan, including business development, people-centered engagement, improvement, innovation and digitalization initiatives for North America.

As a member of the Airbus team for 12 years, Melanie has successfully led the Maintenance Repair Overhaul teams for North America, helping to drive a digital transformation in its operations. Previously, she worked for Airbus Group in France in supply chain and manufacturing management.

Melanie brings a wealth of experience in operational support, quality, supply chain, technical support and engineering, and she is a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.

Courtney manages internal and external communications for Airbus Helicopters North America. She is responsible for aligning the company's overall communications and public relations activities in the region with the company’s strategic business goals and customer-centric operations. 

Her remit includes brand reputation and product visibility, media relations, employee communications, and trade shows/exhibitions throughout the U.S. and Canada, as well as building brand recognition and positive interactions with the communities where AHNA operates.

Courtney was employed at Airbus Helicopters' headquarters in France for nearly 10 years, holding a variety of communications roles including editorial, digital and web communications, external communications and content creation. She started her career in Shanghai, leading a team of multinational magazine editors, before moving to New York City to work for Edelman Public Relations.

Courtney received a Master's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a Bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College.

Ana is responsible for coordinating various elements of the North America region, providing support to Excom leadership meetings, activities and facilitating string communication and collaboration within the Excom team.

She joined Airbus Americas, Inc. in January 2020 where she served as the PMO Lead for Finance Americas. While there, Ana served as the point of contact for Finance North America, kicking off and developing a broad understanding of the PMO principals, project portfolio, and transformation.

Ana brings a wealth of 13 years of project management experience from operational mission support, to Finance and, Lean management projects. Before Airbus, she worked for the Federal government for 11 years as a government information specialist. She attended Mary Baldwin College, where she studied Political Science and Leadership studies and received her certification from the Virginia’s Women Institute for Leadership as the Color Guard Commander. She also holds a Master’s Degree from the Georgetown University in Project Management, where she continues to serve as a Board Member.