Bill Bedford flew as a Royal Air Force fighter pilot, in the second world war, before becoming a test pilot. He carried out pioneering work as chief test pilot at Hawker Aircraft in the 1960s test flying what was to become the Harrier jump jet. He is retained by British Aerospace as a consultant.
As president-director general of Snecma, Jacques Benichou, was responsible for leading the engine company through the 1980s. He remains an honorary president of both Snecma and the French aerospace association GIFAS.
Alexandr Dondukov has headed Russia's Yakovlev design bureau for four years as chairman, overseeing its transformation into the Yak Aircraft joint-stock company in 1992. Under his leadership, Yakovlev has managed the development of new aircraft ranging from the Yak-130 jet trainer, through to passenger airliners such as the Yak-142 tri-jet. He previously led flight testing of the MiG 29 at Mikoyan.
At the start of 1994, Stuart Matthews became president of the Flight Safety Foundation, a non-profit organisation dedicated to improving world-aviation safety. He had spent 20 years as president, and later chairman, of Fokker Aircraft USA.
As chief executive of Qantas Airways, John Ward helped to steer the Australian flag carrier through the first stages of its privatisation and to oversee the merger of the domestic Australian Airlines operation into the group. After leaving Qantas in 1993, he joined News Corporation. He is seconded as chief executive of the BAe/Ansett Australian Air Academy.
Source: Flight International
