New Managing Director appointed at Airline Services Interiors

Monday 28th November 2016

Airline Services Interiors, part of the Airline Services Ltd Group, has appointed Richard Dobson to the role of Managing Director.  An internal promotion, Richard was formerly Commercial Director, joining the business originally in January 2013 as Supply Chain and Financial Reporting Manager.  Richard comes from a strong airline background, having enjoyed a 16-year career with BMI British Midland, holding senior positions within engineering, including Head of Supply Chain, Contracts and Supply Chain Manager, Purchasing Manager and Materials Manager.

In his new role Richard will be based at the company's HQ in Manchester, leading a team of six UK-based sales representatives who between them look after clients in key international territories.

Richard's appointment comes hard on the heels of a solid year for the business.  Airline Services Interiors completed a year-long contract for British Airways at the end of June, which involved the integration of Panasonic Avionics eX3 IFE systems on 18 Boeing 747-400 aircraft, together with new fitted seat covers to bring the interior into line with the airline's new Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 aircraft.  ASI took responsibility for the design, certification and manufacture of the modification kits to integrate the new IFE system in each cabin, working alongside Panasonic and Zodiac NAT, which certified the installation.

Other projects included a long term programme to convert business class seats from Etihad for Air Berlin's A330 fleet with 14 ship sets completed to date.  ASI also supported Lufthansa with an IFE retrofit programme for Economy class seats on 13 of its Boeing 747s and 18 Airbus A340s and for Aer Lingus/ASL Ireland providing IFE installation and cabin upgrades on four B757s.  It has also performed a variety of smaller cabin fitments including A380 replacement mirrors for a number of customers.

"Our business is dedicated to providing high quality cabin retrofits and IFE seat refurbishments, working with high quality replacement parts. We find we can do this in a more cost-effective and speedier manner than the OEMs," says Dobson, maintaining consistently high standards of service.

To ensure that the business continues to offer excellent value for money to their customers Airline Services' EASA Part 21G manufacturing, Part 21J design and Part 145 repair approval activities are now housed exclusively at their three Facilities in Sharston, Manchester.

Airline Services Interiors is one of two distinct divisions under Manchester, UK based parent company Airline Services.   The Airline Services Interiors' portfolio comprises three market focused capabilities - Through Life Support, Engineered Products and Managed Solutions.

The latter brings together Airline Services Interiors' design proficiency, extensive manufacturing capability and MRO experience to enable it to deliver customised solutions for airlines wishing to redesign, refurbish or upgrade their cabin interiors seating and IFE.