LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's air traffic services provider NATS said Warren East would take over as chairman from Sept. 1, naming the former boss of Rolls-Royce (LON:RR) and ARM to succeed Paul Golby who has been in the role for 10 years.
The appointment of corporate heavyweight East, with his knowledge of aviation from engine maker Rolls and technology from chip designer ARM, comes at a sensitive time for NATS after an air traffic meltdown in Britain last August left thousands of passengers stranded abroad for days.
East will oversee the modernisation of Britain's air space over the coming years as NATS, which controls some of the most crowded skies in the world, is in the process of upgrading systems to make flying more efficient.
NATS Chief Executive Martin Rolfe said he was looking forward to working with East.
"His knowledge and insight into the aviation sector, the role of critical UK infrastructure and the experience he has of technology-led transformation will be enormously valuable," Rolfe said.
NATS is a public-private partnership which is partially owned by airlines including British Airways (LON:ICAG) and easyJet (LON:EZJ), pension funds and the government.