New CEO @ OnAir

After three-and-a half years as Chief Executive Officer of OnAir, Benoit Debains has decided to return to Airbus, Toulouse.

Ian Dawkins, former Senior Vice President, Head of Future Programmes, of Airbus SAS, has been appointed as OnAir's new CEO.

"OnAir is delighted to welcome Ian Dawkins on board as CEO," said Francesco Violante, OnAir Chairman. "Given his impressive track record of successful business growth at Airbus, along with his vision for the potential of the industry in defining a leadership position for OnAir's passenger communications services, Ian will shape the company towards a global expansion. And most importantly for anyone who is taking on a CEO role, Ian has already proven that he has exceptional leadership ability."

OnAir's Board Members have tasked Dawkins, 52, with furthering OnAir's profitable pace of growth, including its global reach onboard connectivity solutions and Internet Services to increase market share, profitability, customer loyalty and satisfaction.

Ian started his career with commercial system controls and then moved into aircraft control and landing systems with Fairy Hydraulics as Head of Programme Management.

In 1989 Ian joined Airbus UK managing site closures and reorganisations within the procurement and engineering divisions. In 1997 he became the Programme Director for the Wide Body Programme at BAE Systems. In this role, he contributed to extending the life of the programme by developing a freighter version of the model. In 2001 Ian was appointed Vice President Programme Operation and Management for the Airbus A320 family in Toulouse and later in Hamburg where he has lead the most significant increase in the history of the Programme by raising deliveries from 223 in 2004 to 460 in 2007. In January 2006, Ian took up the position of Head of Future Programmes in charge of the preparation of the next generation of products.

"Benoit has made a significant contribution to the growth of OnAir in various segments which has helped to drive critical transformational developments of the business on which we can build a solid future," said Mr. Violante. "We thank him for his great commitment and wish him success in his future endeavours."

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