Directors
Operational Board members:
Jim French, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer CBE
Jim French began his aviation career in 1970 with
Caledonian Airways, before joining Air UK in 1980. During his 10 years at
Air UK he held senior roles in commercial, planning and marketing areas.
Jim first joined Flybe in 1990, becoming commercial director shortly after.
He subsequently became Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer.
In June 2001, Jim was appointed CEO of the airline and in 2002 developed
the plan which transformed the company into Europe’s largest regional low-cost
airline. Jim was appointed Executive Chairman in March 2005. Jim uniquely
has been voted ‘Airline Executive of the Year’ twice, in 2002 and 2004, by
Regional Airline World and received a CBE in the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours
List.
Mark Chown, Deputy Chairman
Mark has advised the Walker family trusts, Flybe's
majority shareholders, since 1996. A Chartered Accountant, he spent 10 years
in the venture capital industry and since then has gained wide experience
in the IT, property and leisure sectors. Mark has been involved with Flybe
for 12 years and has worked closely with the Group Board throughout that
time. He was appointed Deputy Chairman in 2005.
Andrew Knuckey, Chief Financial Officer
Andrew joined Flybe in 2005 from Rok plc where he
was Finance Director of Rok’s southern division. Prior to Rok, Andrew had
a 24-year career with KPMG, latterly as a partner in the Transaction Services
department. At Flybe, Andrew played a key role in the completion of the BA
Connect acquisition and was appointed CFO in April 2007.
Mike Rutter, Chief Commercial Officer
Mike joined ICI plc from university and after five
years moved to Cape Industries plc (a subsidiary of Charter plc). Upon leaving
Cape Industries plc, Mike joined The Maytag Appliance Group, where he became
Vice President of European Marketing and Sales. Mike has also held senior
commercial positions in the financial services, fashion and security solutions'
sectors. Mike joined Flybe in 2003 and has been responsible for the development
of Flybe’s brand and its strong ancillary revenue streams. He was appointed
CCO in 2005.
Andrew Strong, Chief Operating Officer
Andrew joined Flybe in 1995 to project manage fleet-type
evaluation and aircraft introduction, at the same time as overseeing several
key business development initiatives in the Engineering wing of the company.
Andrew was rapidly promoted to become Head of Aviation Services in 2003 and
was appointed COO in 2005.
Simon Charles, Director of Human Resources
Simon Charles has been the Director of Human Resources for Flybe since January 2007, immediately prior to which he was Group Director of Organisation and People Development with RHM Plc. Simon has 20 years extensive experience in HR that includes having held positions with Unilever, PriceWaterHouseCoopers, PepsiCo and time spent as European HR Director with Quaker Oats.
Mark Elkins, Director of IT
Mark's early career was within finance in the life assurance industry, lastly as Management Accountant for Laurentian Life, before moving into IT with Merchant Investors (then part of the Allianz group). He gained a breadth of experience across multiple sectors after roles with Diageo, Westland Helicopters (then part of the British Aerospace group) and Anite before joining Flybe in 2000. He was appointed to the Operating Board as Director of IT in February 2008.
