Subheading: The Group’s newly formed management see strong growth momentum among
leading aircraft manufacturers and plans to benefit from its solid position as a vertically-
integrated one-stop-shop supplier in future.
The robust increase in build rates at the major aircraft manufacturers (OEMs) is boosting the
aircraft industry. The Montana Aerospace Group is also benefiting from this trend and stood
firmly by its growth strategy even during the Corona crisis. In the past 48 months, the Group
invested more than EUR 600 million in the expansion of its expertise and in production
capacities. A large share of this volume went into the construction of the three new extrusion
lines, which have successfully completed their testing phase and will make substantial
contributions to sales and earnings in the future.
In addition to commissioning a drawn tube for special alloys and an extrusion line for
titanium and hard metal profiles, one of Europe’s largest and most efficient large-format
extrusion lines for the production of aluminum wing structures up to 30 meters long also
went into operation. These systems are already in the qualification phase at major OEMs and
will start serial production by end of 2022.
„With the commissioning of our new facilities and the integration of the ASCO Group, we are
ready for the next big step in our company’s development. We are currently experiencing
incredible growth momentum among leading aircraft manufacturers and are able to fully
leverage our unique positioning as a vertically integrated one-stop-shop supplier. The aim
is to gain further market shares based on manufacturing quality and our geographical
proximity to OEMs,” stated the new two co -CEOs Kai Arndt and Michael Pistauer. „With the
expansion of our product range and production capacities, we are able to provide local-to-
local services to our customers from the aerospace industry, and support them as best as
possible with the implementation of their ambitious aircraft buildrates as well as with the
achievement of their ESG goals.”
By locating additional extrusion plants in Europe, Montana Aerospace is significantly
reducing delivery times and shortening transport distances for its customers. This
competitive advantage is already evident in order acquisition, with orders in hand already
surpassing the target.
„By moving our manufacturing sites as close as possible to the world’s leading aircraft
manufacturers, we are significantly reducing the carbon footprint of our components,“ said
Silvia Buchinger, who is responsible for the Group’s ESG strategy on the Management Board
of Montana Aerospace, and added: „The extrusion process saves us a significant quantity of
valuable metal residue, and we also have an efficient recycling process that allows us to
recycle 100% of our metal residues back into the production process.“
The newly formed management team with two co-CEOs Kai Arndt and Michael Pistauer as
well as CHRO Silvia Buchinger will take over the management of Montana Aerospace AG as
planned effective as of today, and will keep the company on its growth path.
Markus Nolte former CEO and Herbert Roth former COO are leaving the Management Board
at their own request as of today. Markus Nolte will continue to support the company in an
advisory capacity and as a member of the Board of Alu Menziken. Herbert Roth will return to
the parent company Montana Tech Components in a strategic position where he had worked
successfully for more than 20 years.
„Our goal was to create an integrated aerospace supply chain, as it has been practiced in
the automotive industry for many years. To this end, we brought in Markus Nolte, an
experienced manager in this field, in 2019. We would like to thank Markus Nolte and Herbert
Roth for their dedication and hard work. They contributed decisively to the success of
Montana Aerospace in the past three very challenging years. Despite the difficult conditions
in the past years due to the coronavirus pandemic as well as the 737 Max crisis, the entire
team successfully took the company public, implemented a comprehensive investment
program, completed strategic acquisitions and opened new plants in Romania and Vietnam.
This defined the course for the future development of the Group. We are pleased that both
will continue to support the company in an advisory capacity.” said Michael Tojner and Tom
Williams, co-Chairmen of the Board of Directors and added: “We have decided to add an
experienced HR executive to the Management Board and appoint two co-CEOs to head the
company to take full advantage of the opportunities available in all three business segments
– Aerostructures, E-Mobility and Energy – with the aim of staying on track to growth.”
With 30 years of experience in the aerospace industry and management positions at Airbus
and Premium Aerotec, Kai Arndt, who was appointed COO of the Group in December and
CEO of the Montana Aerospace subsidiary ASCO in March, has taken over the strategic
management of the “Aerostructures” business segment as co-CEO effective as of today.
CFO Michael Pistauer was appointed as the second co-CEO and his remit is the strategic
development of the E-Mobility and Energy segments, as well as retaining his position as
Group CFO.
Silvia Buchinger is a new member of the Management Board. After career positions at
Hewlett Packard, Telekom Austria, KUKA and the Theo Müller Group, among others, she
was recruited for Montana Aerospace in November 2021 and will be responsible for Human
Resources, ESG and Corporate Communications and Marketing with immediate effect.