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Under fire UK air traffic company selects Warren East as chair

Britain's air traffic providers NATS said Warren East would take control of as chairman from Sept. 1, naming the previous boss of RollsRoyce and ARM to prosper Paul Golby who has remained in the role for ten years.

The visit of corporate heavyweight East, with his understanding of aviation from engine maker Rolls and technology from chip designer ARM, comes at a delicate time for NATS after an air traffic crisis in Britain last August left thousands of passengers stranded abroad for days.

East will oversee the modernisation of Britain's air space over the coming years as NATS, which controls some of the most congested skies in the world, is in the procedure of upgrading systems to make flying more efficient.

NATS Chief Executive Martin Rolfe stated he was looking forward to dealing with East.

His knowledge and insight into the air travel sector, the role of important UK facilities and the experience he has of technology-led change will be enormously important, Rolfe said.

NATS is a public-private partnership which is partly owned by airlines consisting of British Airways and easyJet, pension funds and the federal government.

(source: Reuters)