At the end of 2012 Mike Ambrose, 67, will retire as director general of ERA after serving more than 25 years in the post. The ERA board has approved the elevation of Simon McNamara, 40, to the role from his current position as deputy director general.
“When I joined ERA the industry was in a position where the commercial opportunities had been unleashed, with the prospect of total freedoms in the near future,” Ambrose told AIN. “During the first half of my time we enjoyed growth rates that were nearly always double those of the major airlines. However, in the latter years we’ve had to make radical changes at ERA’s directorate, metamorphosing from one that could rely on strong representation from member experts, to undertaking more and more activities by the directorate team itself, as members have faced severe constraints. Since 2008 we have been stretched to maintain vigorous lobbying to help protect our members from additional cost burdens, as economic viability has been increasingly hard to achieve.
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