Chair: Prof. Paul Stephen Dempsey - Tomlinson Professor of Law and Director of the Institute of Air and Space Law, McGill University
Panellists:
Folasade Odutola - Director, Air Transport Bureau, ICAO
Daniel Calleja - Director of Air Transport, European Commission
Graham Lake - Director General, CANSO
François Gayet - Chairman, International Coordinating Council of Aerospace Industries Associations (ICCAIA), Secretary General, AeroSpace and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD)
Tom Windmuller - Senior Vice President, International Air Transport Association (IATA)
Folasade Odutola
Ms. Folasade Odutola assumed duties as Director, Air Transport Bureau on 7 May 2007. She holds an MSc in Air Transport Engineering from Cranfield University, and a BSc (First Class Hons.) in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Glasgow, both in the UK. Ms Odutola has worked in the aviation industry since 1977, mostly within the regulatory sphere.
Immediately before taking up the position with ICAO, Ms. Odutola was Rector and CEO of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, an ab-initio training institute for all aviation professionals. Prior to that, she worked briefly in an airline followed by a period of over 20 years in the Nigerian civil aviation regulatory system, where she attained the position of Director, Airworthiness and Operations Standards. She has served as secretary/member of many committees set up to consider issues of high importance to the Nigerian aviation industry while she organised a number of ICAO joint workshops. Ms. Odutola was charged with the responsibility of setting up the very first air transport licensing branch in the regulatory authority where she also handled commercial duties. She has participated in several bilateral air services agreement meetings as well.
She is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and a Chartered Engineer of the British Council.
François Gayet
François Gayet was born in 1945 and is a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique and a graduate of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de l'Aéronautique. He received a Master of Science degree from Stanford University, California, holds a commission as Ingénieur en Chef de I’Armement in the French defense procurement agency (DGA) and is a Knight of the Order of the Legion of Honor.
He began his career as a research engineer at the Aeronautics and Telecommunications Department of the DGA before joining THALES in 1975, where he was in charge of international radar and laser fire control systems programs for the Avionics Division. In 1982, he joined the Electronic Systems Division as Export Sales Director. In late 1986, he was appointed Director of Projects and Systems, at the Thales Telecommunications Division. Later, he took part in the creation of the Radiocommunications, Electronic Warfare and Security Division and became director of that division in 1990. In 1994, he was appointed Director of the Missile Systems Division (DSM). At the end of 1995, François Gayet became Managing Director of Thales Airsys. From 1997, François Gayet was appointed Chairman of Thales North America, the holding company for all of Thales interests in the United States, and Chairman and CEO of Thales, Inc.
In June 2001, François Gayet became Senior Vice President Defence France.
In September 2002, he was appointed Senior Vice President, Managing, Naval Systems Business Group.
In May 2004, he became Senior Vice President Marketing & Sales of Thales.
In October 2005, he retired from Thales and was elected Secretary General of the AeroSpace and Defence Industries Association of Europe – ASD, based in Brussels. ASD has 28 member associations in 20 countries across Europe and represents over 2000 companies with a further 80 000 suppliers, many of which are SMEs. The industry sectors employ around 676 000 people, with a turnover of around €137billion.
Thomas Stephen Windmuller
Thomas Windmuller has served the global airline industry in a broad cross section of positions over the past twenty years. Currently IATA’s Senior Vice President, Member & Government Relations and Corporate Secretary, he is responsible for IATA’s relations with its Member airlines, governments and industry partners around the world. As Corporate Secretary, he is responsible for meetings of the Membership and its Board of Governors, and serves as the senior political advisor to the Director General and CEO.