GE Aviation president and CEO David Joyce plans to retire from the company after 40 years of service and relinquish his duties to now-former CEO of Embraer Commercial Aviation John Slattery. Joyce, who spent his entire career at GE Aviation and the last 12 years as its president and CEO, led the renewal of 10 different engine families, including the GEnx, CFM Leap, and GE9X.

Under Joyce’s leadership, GE Aviation became one of the wider company’s leading businesses, doubling the unit’s revenue from $16.5 billion to $33 billion, increasing total backlog from $26 billion to more than $270 billion, and industrializing new technologies across both commercial and military applications. He also drove innovation with his participation in GE Research and accelerating additive manufacturing applications.

Joyce, who became eligible for retirement three years ago, guided GE Aviation through some of the most significant periods of change in its history, such as 9/11, SARS, the global financial crisis, and through today with the 737 Max and Covid-19 crises.

“Over his remarkable career, David’s leadership has established GE Aviation as the world’s foremost aircraft engine franchise,” said GE chairman and CEO H. Lawrence Culp. “An icon in the aerospace industry, David has been a driver of innovation, and the decisions made under his leadership will continue to manifest for decades. His greatest legacy may be the thousands of leaders he has mentored and developed throughout his career.”

Slattery, who has led Embraer Commercial Aviation since July 2016 and before that served as the business unit’s chief commercial officer since November 2012, will join GE as president and CEO-elect on July 13 and fully assume the role on September 1. Joyce has agreed to continue as GE vice chairman and advisor to GE Research through December 31, and subsequently will serve as a strategic advisor to GE Aviation into 2021.