Julie Black has been elected Deputy Chair of BACA – The British Air Charter Association, working alongside Chairman Nick Weston.
After roles in a number of different sectors of the air charter industry, Black has wide market experience. In the earlier days of her aviation career she worked at London Biggin Hill Airport, looking after marketing and overseeing the FBO operation. She then spent 14 years with multinational charter broker Chapman Freeborn, providing aircraft charter solutions to a wide variety of clients from the corporate sphere, particularly in the entertainment sector. In 2017, Black joined Hunt & Palmer, with a view to moving away from the entertainment client base to work on a more ad-hoc basis, with corporate and high net worth clientele.
Weston said: “It’s great to welcome Julie to the role of Deputy Chair. The combination of us as a team means we have two people at the helm who really understand the challenges facing brokers and operators. I should like to take this opportunity to thank Volker Meissner who hands over to Julie, although he will remain on the Council. Volker has served the Association loyally for five years as Deputy and been instrumental in many changes we have seen during this time.”
Adding to the Chairman’s comments Black noted: “At my first BACA networking event, maybe ten years ago, the Association was far more male-dominated than it is today. I joined the Council in 2015 since I’m passionate about our industry and being on the Council affords me the opportunity to give something back. I’m proud to be a woman in aviation and keen to be a role model and ambassador to encourage young women – and men – into our industry. “There are skills shortages in many areas of the market that we need to fill and bring further diversity to our industry. It is an honour to be elected Deputy Chair at such an exciting time for the Association, while we are gaining real momentum in key areas including the fight against illegal charter and moving towards a formal training and certification framework for brokers.”