Sir Roy McNulty, chairman of aerospace manufacturer Short Brothers, has been appointed by the UK Government to steer the country's state-owned National Air Traffic Services (NATS) through its impending partial privatisation.
McNulty becomes chairman of NATS on 1 May on a contract running for two-and-a-half years and has been appointed to the board of the UK Civil Aviation Authority. The NATS post has been filled by Sir Malcolm Field, CAA chairman since 1997 when the previous chairman, Malcolm Argent left the position.
While standing down as chair of Belfast-based Shorts at the end of this month, McNulty will remain chairman of Short Missile Systems - the Bombardier subsidiary's joint venture with Thomson-CSF - until at least the end of this year.
McNulty, who has been with Shorts since 1978, says he has a "lot of respect" for NATS, and hopes ongoing consultation on a public-private partnership "will bring NATS many new business opportunities and new investment".
He will be succeeded as chairman of Shorts by Sir George Quigley, chairman of Ulster Bank, a NatWest subsidiary.
Source: Flight International
