Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, South Carolina Area, United States, February 2026 – Eric Matteson has started a new position as Vice President Operations at Woodward, Inc., bringing decades of global operations leadership experience across aerospace, energy, and industrial automation.
Eric joins Woodward following his tenure as Vice President, Operations at ZeroAvia, where he built and scaled global production, supply chain, quality, IT, and facilities capabilities. At ZeroAvia, a pioneer in hydrogen-electric propulsion for zero-emission aviation, he led global site development using a “Centers of Excellence” model, established a Part 21G production system, strengthened supply chain readiness for qualification, and drove operational cost management across OPEX and CAPEX—supporting the company’s ambitious clean aviation roadmap.
Prior to ZeroAvia, Eric spent over 18 years at GE Aviation, holding several senior leadership roles. As Executive, Sourcing, he led supplier capability improvements across an $8.1B global supply chain and drove lean transformation initiatives. Earlier, as Executive Plant Leader, he spearheaded the greenfield start-up of a $128M jet engine assembly facility in Lafayette, Indiana, supporting major OEMs including Boeing, Airbus, COMAC, and Bombardier. His leadership enabled high-volume production, strong productivity gains, and a culture of self-directed high performance.
Eric’s earlier career included key operational and Six Sigma leadership roles at GE Fanuc Automation Americas Inc. and an engineering foundation at GE Power, where he contributed to advanced industrial control systems and lean process transformation.
With extensive experience in global supply chains, manufacturing scale-up, lean transformation, and high-performance teaming, Eric is well positioned to drive operational excellence at Woodward as the company advances energy control solutions for a decarbonized future.
About Woodward, Inc.
Woodward, Inc. is a global leader in the design, manufacture, and service of energy conversion and control solutions for the aerospace and industrial equipment markets. The company partners with customers worldwide to enable the transition toward a cleaner, decarbonized world through advanced energy control technologies.
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