McDonnell Helicopter Chief Reassigned

Thomas M. Gunn, president of McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Co. in Mesa, Ariz., is being reassigned to a vice president’s post at McDonnell’s corporate office.

The move accommodates Gunn’s “desire to return to St. Louis for family reasons,” according to Chairman John McDonnell.

A company spokesman said the reassignment of Gunn, who became president of the troubled helicopter operation in 1990, was not because of performance problems.

During 1990, the helicopter operation lost the competition for the Army LH, the biggest military helicopter program of the next decade.

The firm’s Apache attack helicopter has been faulted in Congress for poor reliability and high maintenance costs, although the company asserts that the aircraft performed well during the Persian Gulf War.

McDonnell said Gunn, 48, will “serve as an internal consultant” to various units and to members of the firm’s executive council. The firm did not name a successor.