Flybe Group: Directorate and management
05-Aug-2013 Following the separation of roles between Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, with the appointment of Saad Hammad as CEO and the move to non-executive Chairman by Jim French with effect from 1 August 2013, the Board of Flybe announces a restructuring of the Board and senior management changes.
Paul Simmons will join the Company as Chief Commercial Officer with effect from 28 October 2013 and will report directly to Mr Hammad.
Mr Simmons joins from easyJet where he was Director, UK Market since returning to the airline in 2009 and was responsible for the commercial programme and revenue delivery across its eleven bases and 110 aircraft in the country, playing a lead role in transforming the UK from one of the airline's worst performing territories to one its strongest. Mr Simmons was originally at easyJet from 2006-2008 as Head of Brand Marketing, Product & Distribution and oversaw the launch of the airline's business traveller programme. Additionally, Mr Simmons has held various senior management roles at Dubai Parks & Resorts, Oberoi Group and InterContinental Hotels.
Mark Chown (Director of Corporate Strategy) Mike Rutter (Managing Director: Flybe Outsourcing Solutions) and Andrew Strong (Managing Director: Flybe UK) will step down from the Board with immediate effect. They will continue to report to Saad Hammad.
Andrew Knuckey, Chief Financial Officer since 2007, has decided it is an appropriate time to step down from the Board and leave the Company as soon as a successor can be appointed and a suitable handover period has been completed. Mr Knuckey, who is looking to pursue a number of finance opportunities, played a lead role in the acquisition and integration of BA Connect in 2007, the IPO on the London Stock Exchange in 2010 and, more recently, the design and implementation of the first phases of the turnaround plan. The Board wishes him and his family well for the future and also thanks him for his major contribution over the last eight years.