DAVID THOMAS

Dave joined British Airways as a pilot in 1993, with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering and 3 years’ experience working in international law firms. As well as his flying experience, he is currently a training captain and examiner on the A380. He has over 20 years’ experience in airline management including 11 years operating at Board level in the roles of Chief Training Pilot and Head of Flight Technical and Training.

For 7 years Dave was BA’s AOC nominated post holder for training for around 19,000 pilots and cabin crew. In this role he introduced many innovative training programmes. He is a firm believer in embedding leadership skills into the core of learning and has championed the EASA move to competency-based pilot training.

During a varied career, Dave has worked with external organisations including NATS and the CAA, negotiated on technical and training issues for BA with its pilot union BALPA, and was brought in by BA to turn around a major estate project to create a single Learning Academy in a £40m project. He was privileged to be deeply involved in BA’s sponsorship of the London 2012 Olympics, flying the Olympic Torch from Greece to the UK and leading the post-Olympic BA and RAF fly-past down the Mall.