these Airbus retirees in Loire-Atlantique tell their memories

See my news
Follow L’Écho de la Presqu’île

Remember the women and men who made Airbus history. This is the objective of Ariana, the association of Airbus retirees. The association is celebrating its 65th anniversary this year. To mark this anniversary, Nadine Couëdel and Catherine Rougier decided to bring together in a book of around a hundred pages testimonies from former employees of the aviation company in the Saint-Nazaire region. “We know how to talk about the planes that are manufactured here, the techniques, but much less about the humans who make them,” notes Nadine Couëdel, at the origin of the project.

Their entire career at Airbus

For several months, the two women met around thirty former employees, witnesses of theaeronautics adventure in Saint-Nazaire (Loire-Atlantique) and Montoir.

Whether they are journeymen, technicians, administrative agents, executives or directors, whether they are from the city factory, Gron or the aviation apprenticeship school, through the pages, we discover thehistory of these employees most of whom have spent their entire careers here.

Published in 1,000 copies

Among them, Jean-Yves Budes joined Airbus in 1967. From Vautour to ATR via Corvette, he had great years in flight testing and after-sales, in Saint-Nazaire and Toulouse, but also in Baltimore, at the time when the aircraft manufacturer was seeking to break into the American market in 1976.

During his career, Jean-Yves Budes traveled the world “to Algeria, Libya, Denmark, Mexico… I remember these wads of notes which were given to me by the administrative department of the factory in order to pay my travel expenses. The bank card did not yet exist, nor the smartphone, it was an adventure,” he remembers.

The work “At the heart of performance: men! », 32 witnesses of Nazairian aeronautics tell was published in 1,000 copies. “Through these stories, we want to promote all the human heritage that has enabled its undisputed success. »

Sold for €15 at the Airbus Cooperative, Escal’Atlantic and at the tourist office

Follow all the news from your favorite cities and media by subscribing to Mon Actu.