GATES AVIATION - Key Persons
Alan is a widely experienced fixed wing and rotary pilot with both operational and Search and Rescue background. An Aviation Safety and Security professional who until March 2014 was the Director of the Aviation Security and Accident Investigation Department of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority. Alan also has extensive experience in the management of air shows and has been Deputy Chairman and Static Park Director of a number of the Dubai International Air Shows .
David Miller is the former Chief Inspector of the United Kingdom's Department for Transport Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB).
Leaving the RAF in 1987 with an Airline Transport Pilot's Licence, he flew the Boeing 757 and became a Training Captain on the Boeing 737 with Air Europe.
He joined Air Accidents Investigation Branch in 1991 and has investigated in excess of 500 accident and serious incidents in the UK and locations in Europe, North America, the Caribbean and the Arctic Circle. Additionally, he was able to maintain his ATPL becoming type rated on the Boeing 767, the Airbus A300‑600 and the Cessna Citation and qualifying as a helicopter pilot.
In 2005, he was appointed to the Senior Civil Service position of Deputy Chief Inspector responsible for the day-to-day management and operational processes & procedures for aircraft accident investigation in the UK, its overseas Territories, Crown Dependencies as well as AAIB's involvement in foreign investigations. Additionally, he was responsible for the quality output for all AAIB reports and publications. He held the post of Chief Inspector before he resigned to become a freelance consultant in 2017.
He is trained in Strategic Command Crisis Management, the Analysis of Human Factors in Aviation Safety and Quality Management for Airline Operations.
Dr Barbara Clark is a consulting sociolinguist and anthropologist, specialising in organisational discourse and interaction, minimising miscommunication, and improving safety.
Dr Clark's consulting work focuses on understanding how and why miscommunication happens and its safety implications. She uses both long-established and cutting-edge academic methodologies to reveal insights and understand messages that may be hidden ‘between the lines' of talk and text. She specialises in cabin crew, flight crew, and controller communication and interaction.
In 2013, she received her PhD in Linguistics from Queen Mary, University of London, where she investigated how cabin crew use language to construct a professional identity and community. She maintains a Visiting Scholar position at Queen Mary, and engages in applied research in order to contribute to and enhance aviation safety and security. She regularly presents at international aviation and academic conferences.
Before starting her academic work, Dr Clark worked in the US civil aviation industry for ten years. Now based in the UK but working internationally, this experience gives her a unique perspective and insight into the day-to-day demands of crewmembers on the line.
Dr Clark works with industry and regulatory clients, and has most recently worked with the UK Civil Aviation Authority on a project involving pilot / controller communication and ICAO language proficiency.
Captain Jo Gillespie joined Gates Aviation from the position of Vice President - Flight Safety at Emirates Airline in Dubai, with responsibility for operational safety oversight of more than 100 aircraft, 2000 pilots and 13,000 cabin crew. He was also a qualified Type Rating Instructor (TRI) in the mixed fleet flying (MFF) environment of the A330/A340 fleet.
His thirty years experience as a pilot have encompassed military service, general and business aviation, and worldwide scheduled and charter airline operations, and included over fifteen years of aviation safety management. He has been actively engaged in accident and incident investigations, flight data analysis, safety management and air safety reporting programmes, introduction and development of report management and safety information systems and the promotion of safety improvement throughout the industry.
Jo has for several years been chairman of the Gulf Flight Safety Committee and is a member of the International Advisory Committee of the Flight Safety Foundation, as well as being a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.
With over 37 years of aviation experience, John has gained competence in the areas of safety, security and risk management, systems development, implementation and audit. He has held a range of senior posts including Airport Manager, Jeddah for British Caledonian Airways, Senior Ground Safety Manager and Head of Cargo Security and Quality Assurance at British Airways and Head of Cargo Security and Assistance Director Aviation Security Policy and Projects at IATA.
John has extensive experience of managing, current, new and emerging security threats and a wide range of aviation safety risks. He is highly experienced in reviewing and enhancing performance, based on risk assessment and quality assurance and a has a track record of successfully delivering complex projects in diverse cross-border environments. John has worked in numerous States on short assignments and has in-depth understanding of relevant international and regional regulatory environments and compliance cultures. He has been project lead for a major client for approaching 2 years, developing and underpinning implementation of their Air Travel Safety and Risk Management Program.
Captain Laurie Mitchell is currently employed as Training Captain in a major middle eastern airline. Laurie's 33 years of flying experience began in the South African Air Force, after which he moved to South African Airways as a First Officer where he flew B737s, B747-200/300/400 and A320 (and a JU-52).
After moving to the middle east, he gained a wide bodied command on A310 and A300`s. Subsequently he moved into the training department to become a Training Captain on the A330 and A340-300/500, B777 series and the A380.
Additionally, he has been actively involved in simulation analysis and testing (A330/A340/B777) and the design of training and test programs for use during flight evaluation.
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts
- Transport Executive
Mike is an air transport executive with more than 46 years' hands-on experience in the industry covering airlines with different business models and within different functions and departments. He has had extensive involvement in dealing with regulators, politicians and the Boards of airlines.
He took up the post of Director General of the European Regions Airline Association (ERA) in 1987 and developed ERA from a small and indebted organisation into a highly motivated and effective organisation that is financially healthy. Under his leadership ERA achieved the respect of the European Commission, European Parliament and Europe's air transport regulatory institutions for its knowledge and constructive approach in managing and reacting to the various issues that threaten the well-being of Europe's regional airlines.
Mike established and Chaired, for 14 years until retiring from ERA, Europe's Council for Environmentally Friendly Aviation (CEFA) which remains the principal forum for Europe's air transport industry to coordinate policies, priorities and actions on environmental matters. He has been a Board Member of Flight Safety Foundation for 14 years to present, a Member of FSF Executive Committee for 9 years and was Vice Chair International for 3 years.
Starting his career in BEA, he worked on aircraft performance, weather minima, let-down procedures and other documentation to maintain the currency of aircraft operations manuals. Later, as a Systems Analyst in BA's management Services Division, he specified and implemented computer systems for aircraft component control, stock control, catering supplies control and cargo management.
After transfer to BA's Regional Division he was responsible for aircraft economic and operating evaluation, fleet requirements planning and airport planning. Mike provided the case for acquisition of Boeing 737 aircraft (later adopted by BA Mainline) and the rationalisation of Regional Division's aircraft fleet. He was a member of a 12-strong team responsible for turning around Regional Division's significant losses to break-even within 3 years.
He then became, for seven years, BA's Adviser Operational Charges and member of IATA's User Charges Committee responsible for negotiating BA's landing and navigation fees worldwide.
Mike is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, the Royal Aeronautical Society and the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport. He has been given three Lifetime Achievement Awards.
Ping is a solicitor qualified to practice in both China and UK. During the past 20 years Ping has dedicated her life to the aviation industry firstly as an aviation insurance broker at Marsh (UK) Ltd and subsequently a partner of Gates & Partners, a leading specialist aviation law firm.
Ping specialises in insurance and aviation liability issues, having acted for major UK, US and Chinese international airlines in numerous accidents, personal injury, delay, denied boarding, cargo and hull claims, and claims against third parties.
She advises aviation clients on disaster planning and risk management, products and airport liability, EU regulatory issues, and a variety of aviation contracts, Conditions of Carriage and terms of websites, as well as general commercial litigation.
Ping also advises on insurance policy coverage issues, and successfully defended a Lloyds' broker before the English High Court in a US$100 million claim in relation to issue of insurance certificates, which led to the claim being withdrawn.
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- Formerly a Resident Member
Rania Khbais was formerly a resident member of the ICAO Aviation Security Professional Manager (AVSEC PM) Evaluation Panel in Dubai and is an ICAO certified Aviation Security International Instructor in both English and Arabic, Aviation Security Professional Manager, and National Aviation Security Inspector.
At the DCAA, Rania was responsible for a range of security functions including Aviation security inspections, audits, and surveys to ensure compliance with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards, and the requirements of the National Civil Aviation Security Programme of the UAE, recommending improvements in the procedures for passenger security and facilitation and representing the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) on the Airport Security and Facilitation Committee for both Dubai International and Al Maktoum International airports.
Ron has many years of front line management and senior management experience in the commercial aviation industry. Ron held a number of senior management positions within BA, including appointments in operations and maintenance planning, business development, customer service and operations, emergency planning and business continuity, ground operations compliance and corporate security.
Ron dealt with a number of corporate incidents, both complex and routine. He was also responsible for launching ‘business continuity' as a business discipline within the company and for developing robust emergency plans spanning a range of one hundred and sixty five airports in eighty five countries, many with their own cultural issues and complexities. He was responsible for compliance and policy development related to ground safety and security within all ground operations areas of the business.
As Head of Aviation Security in the post-9/11 security environment, his responsibilities included a complete review of security measures applied to the airline's global network and covered development of appropriate aviation security policy within the company which aimed to deliver UK and host state compliance with regulatory requirements; the provision of timely security advice and guidance to operational departments; auditing of line station and line management performance; and compliance with the required security measures.
With two other Directors, Ron launched the business in 2006 and has been privileged to undertake many complex projects on behalf of a number of prestigious clients and a range of smaller organisations. The diversity of such projects has been both challenging and stimulating and has spanned industry disciplines, from emergency planning, through operational and aviation security projects to purchasing of aviation fuel and aircraft.
In 1992, Ron was awarded the M.B.E. in H.M. the Queen's Birthday Honours List for "services to aviation".
Mr Gates has specialized in aviation related law throughout his career. His clients include airlines, airports, ground handlers, financiers, manufacturers and their insurers. His practice has involved lead counsel representation of industry representatives domestically and internationally and has been involved in more than 50 international aviation disasters through his career. From 1997-2003 he was senior partner of the leading boutique aviation law firm Beaumont and Son (which subsequently merged with Clyde and Co) and in 2003 founded Gates and Partners which before merging with another UK law firm in June 2013, employed 60 lawyers specializing in various aspects of aviation law, with offices in 5 jurisdictions worldwide.
From 1998 - 2013, Mr Gates was the Legal Adviser to the International Union of Aviation Insurers (IUAI), a trade association comprised of the world's leading aviation insurers. Mr Gates represented the IUAI as the principal observer on behalf of the IUAI at the diplomatic conference resulting in the Montreal Convention of 1999 on carrier liability to passengers, at the diplomatic conference in Montreal for the Conventions on Surface Damage and at the legal committee meeting in 2013 discussing changes to the Tokyo Convention on Offences Committed on Board Aircraft 1963. From 2006-2016 he was Legal Adviser to the British Air Transport Association,
Mr Gates is currently the CEO of Gates Aviation Ltd which provides a range of services to the aerospace industry in a variety of areas including dispute resolution, risk management, and disaster preparedness/response. He is also legal adviser of the European Regions Airlines Association and a member of the legal advisory committee of the Flight Safety Foundation and the Shanghai Dispute Resolution Centre. Current projects include arbitrating a lease finance dispute as sole ICC arbitrator, disaster response advice for major Chinese manufacturer, managing liability claims in Italy and Brazil for European manufacturer, and advising European airline legal department on responsibilities in a disaster.
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- Independent Consultant
Thierry started his career as aircraft technician in the French Navy. Currently he is Quality Manager for a provider of aircraft maintenance tracking and information services to business aviation.
In addition, for the past 10 years, Thierry has worked as an independent consultant on Compliance Management and Safety Management Systems for European and African companies.
His experience covers Airworthiness Management and Operations for bizjet operators.
Today, he is more focused on Emergency Reponse Plan development, audits and training.
Thierry holds an Air Safety Investigator License. He is registered as an IRCA auditor, and EASA independent external safety expert for Aircraft Continuing Airworthiness, Organization and Management of an AOC holder and Safety Management Event Response.