bmibaby has appointed Captain John Robertson as head of operations for the low cost airline. John, 52, joins from parent company bmi, where he has been employed for the past seventeen years. He will be based at East Midlands Airport and take up the new post from 1 March 2003.

Captain Robertson will be responsible for managing all aspects relating to ground operations, pilots, cabin crew and navigation services. His first task will be to oversee the airline`s application for obtaining its own Air Operators Certificate (AOC) in order to stand alone as an independent operator. He is a Captain on the Boeing 737 fleet and will continue to fly from East Midlands Airport for bmibaby in his new position.

Commenting on his appointment, Captain Robertson said:
Ê“My dream was always to work and fly with bmi, I achieved that some years ago and now I`m pleased to be part of another new venture which is bmibaby. It`s a new challenge that I`m very much looking forward to. In my new role I hope to build on a great team, oversee the operations at current and future bases and ensure that all of our operations remain focussed on low cost.”

Tony Davis, managing director of bmibaby welcomed the appointment:
Ê“It`s testament to bmibaby that we`ve managed to secure a great member of staff to head up our operations division. John has been a valued member of the bmi team since 1986 in fact his first aviation job was with bmi back in 1971. He`ll be an asset to bmibaby and with him on board we can be confident that the bmibaby operation will continue to be a smooth and efficient one.”

Captain Robertson is originally from Dunfirmline, Scotland but is now living in Worthing, West Sussex. During his time with bmi he has clocked up 12,000 hours of flying and was the last pilot to fly the DC-9 for the airline.Ê He has been base Captain and base manager for bmi at London Heathrow before taking up the operations manager post in the Midlands in July 2001 to then become general manager operations in 2002.

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