One of the key players in the 2012 buyout of bmi regional has stepped down as chairman of the business, the Press and Journal can reveal today.
The Aberdeen-based airline confirmed last night that Ian Woodley had given up the role and been replaced by major shareholder and aviation entrepreneur Peter Bond.
Mr Woodley remains on the board, having overseen the transformation of the business from a subsidiary of the former BMI group to a standalone independent airline with scheduled, contract and charter flying interests in the UK and mainland Europe.
A spokesman for bmi regional said: “Since June 2012, bmi regional has successfully transitioned from a subsidiary carrier to a standalone airline, increasing its reach in new markets.
“Mr Woodley remains fully engaged . . . as a board member, with particular responsibility for directing the airline’s strategy.”
Mr Bond recently divested a stake in helicopter firm Bond Aviation, when its parent – Avincis Group – was acquired by Babcock International Group in a £1.6billion deal. Bmi regional’s change of chairman comes just two years after Mr Woodley teamed up with Graeme Ross and Robert Sturman – backed by Mr Bond and his brother, Stephen – to buy the carrier from International Airlines Group (IAG), the parent of British Airways, in an £8million deal.
Mr Sturman is no longer a director of the airline and the company that was set up to run it, Sector Aviation Holdings (SAH). Mr Ross is business development director.
SAH’s swoop to buy bmi regional in 2012 ended a long-running period of uncertainty for the business.
IAG acquired it, together with bmi’s mainline operation, from Germany’s Lufthansa in 2009 but then warned it could axe the regional business if it could not sell it on.
Willie Walsh, IAG’s chief executive, had decided the regional division was not part of his group’s plans and the threat to wind up the business put about 300 jobs in Aberdeen at risk.
Bmi regional, which currently employs about 400 people, has its roots in a management buyout – led by Mr Woodley and Mr Ross – of charter broker Business Air Centre in 1987.
The venture developed to become Aberdeen-based airline Business Air, which was later swallowed up by British Midland to become part of the BMI group acquired by Lufthansa in 2009.