Robert Ayling

Bob Ayling is a British businessman who has been involved in many high profile companies and organisations. He was educated at King's College School, a boys' independent school in Wimbledon, in south-west London.

Ayling, a solicitor, began his career in the Department of Trade and Industry in 1973. In 1985 he joined British Airways, holding a series of senior roles including Director of marketing and operations. In this role many hold him responsible for the "dirty tricks" campaign against the fledgling Virgin Atlantic. Following a libel suit BA was faced with a legal bill of up to £3 million, damages to Sir Richard Branson (owner of Virgin) of £500,000 and a further £110,000 to his airline.

Ayling was appointed Chief Executive of British Airways in 1996. His tenure coincided with one of the most turbulent periods in BA's history. In his first two years he narrowly avoided a pilots' strike and suffered a cabin crew strike, which cost the airline hundreds of millions of pounds. In 1997 Ayling announced the end of BA's Union Flag livery, adopting instead a series of ethnic tailfins. This was highly controversial: although BA insisted they were popular around the world, they were unpopular with BA's core customers - British travellers, who make up 40% of its passengers, and North American customers. In 1999 BA announced that half of the fleet would receive a new union flag design. Ayling's successor announced in 2001 that the ethnic tailfins would be removed altogether.

In 1998 BA announced the establishment of a low-cost carrier, Go Fly. Another key policy of Ayling's time as CEO was the pursuit of a merger with American Airlines. This was ultimately unsuccessful due to the conditions placed on the deal by regulatory authorities, the most painful of which was the sacrificing of landing slots at Heathrow.

In 1999 BA reported a 50% slump in profits, its worst since privatisation. In March 2000 Ayling was removed from his position. BA announced Rod Eddington as his successor in May.

On 23 May 2000 Ayling was forced to resign from the New Millennium Experience Company, the company that ran the Millennium Dome. The Millennium Commission demanded the resignation in return for continued investment, because it was concerned that the existing management had a poor history of controlling costs.

Ayling was appointed a Non-executive Director of Holidaybreak Plc in February 2003 and Chairman in June 2003.

By May 2006, Ayling had been installed as non-executive chairman of the Sanctuary Group of record and music companies. In this capacity, he dismissed founder and chief executive Andy Taylor over differences in style.