Leonardo Helicopters, the rotorcraft division of the Italian aerospace and defense giant, has appointed Stefano Villanti as its new Managing Director with immediate effect.
Prior to his appointment in the top role, Villanti, a former McKinsey consultant, held several leadership positions within Leonardo’s aerospace division.
The Italian executive joined the aerospace company in 2015 as Senior Vice-President (SVP) at the International Government Business Unit and moved on to exercise other commercial functions within the firm over the course of the following decade. This included Senior Vice President of Sales and, since 2023, Senior Vice President Marketing and Sales at the Leonardo’s Helicopters Division.
“Leonardo is a major global player in the rotorcraft industry, a sector that, like much of the wider Aerospace, Defence and Security landscape, is navigating a period of considerable change,” Villanti said in a press release announcing his accession to his new position. “This environment calls for a balanced approach: continuity in execution and performance, combined with a careful assessment of longer-term priorities and the opportunities most valuable to maintaining and strengthening Leonardo’s competitiveness.”
Leonardo Helicopters delivered 182 rotorcraft in 2025, a figure which sees the Italian firm take the second spot among Western helicopter makers (only after Airbus Helicopters) in the market for turbine helicopters, with roughly between one fifth and one quarter of the market.
