Proud of our model

Governance and family values

Dassault Aviation is the only aerospace group in the world that is still owned by the family of its founder, Marcel Dassault. This unwavering backing from our main shareholder ensures the stability of our management team: Éric Trappier is only the fifth Chairman and CEO in a century. This ability to take a long-term view is a major asset in aviation, an industry with extremely long cycles: an aircraft may well stay in production for as long as 25 years and remain in service for more than 40 years.

Our stability allows us to uphold the values that have driven Dassault Aviation’s success: technical excellence and innovation; a passion for aeronautics; quick strategic decisions; adaptability in the face of change; the determination to meet objectives; efficient management and competitiveness; and a human resources policy designed to attract top talent and ensure their loyalty.

Profit-sharing policy

We take a unique approach to sharing profits based on fair distribution, in particular a profit-sharing agreement that goes well beyond legal requirements. Hence, thanks to profit sharing and incentive plans relating to the 2020 fiscal year, employees will benefit to the tune of 85 million euros (including the specific correlated social tax). 103 million euros in dividends were proposed to our shareholders at the Annual General Meeting in May 2021. In 2020, in light of the exceptional circumstances, shareholders waived their profit-related dividends for 2019, while profit-sharing and incentive payments were maintained.

Dual expertise: civil and military

Our dual civil-military expertise means that we can count on two different markets with different business cycles, reducing our exposure to fluctuating economic conditions. We design and produce both military and business aircraft in the same design departments and factories. The state-of-the-art technologies developed for defense also benefit our civil aviation business, which in turn generates innovations in terms of production and certification.

A pivotal player

As an industrial architect and systems integrator, Dassault Aviation brings together major suppliers in the aviation industry. We take a pragmatic approach to coordinating partnerships and alliances, whether in Europe or in a broader international framework, through developments in the United States and India, for instance. This approach favors long-term relationships, based on complementary skills, quality and performance.

Dassault Aviation naturally plays a pivotal role in future combat systems, by teaming up on various programs in conjunction with European partners: the New Generation Fighter via FCAS, Eurodrone, nEUROn, as well as in the space sector.

Active CSR policy

Since 2003, when we joined the United Nations Global Compact, Dassault Aviation has been actively engaged in a policy of corporate social responsibility (CSR) with respect to its employees, the environment and its suppliers. Through our actions, we are contributing to 8 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the UN in 2015.