Swedish electric airplane maker Heart Aerospace has named Simon McNamara as its Director of Government and Industry Affairs.
With more than 25 years of experience in aviation public affairs, much of it focused around the regional airline sector, McNamara brings considerable advocacy expertise to Heart. For the past five years he has been leading advocacy efforts in the UK and Ireland for the International Air Transport Association (IATA) with much of the work focused on sustainability issues.
“I’m very pleased to welcome Simon to the team. Decarbonising air travel requires a collective effort, and his experience will strengthen our interactions with governments, regulatory authorities and industry bodies necessary to achieve this goal,” said Anders Forslund, co-founder and CEO of Heart
Before his role at IATA, McNamara was Director of Communications at the UK regional airline Flybe and prior to that, he spent 19 years in EU affairs culminating in a term as Director General of the European Regions Airline Association. He also spent time early in his career with IFALPA, the global pilot association, focused on ICAO matters.
“I am incredibly excited to be joining the team at Heart Aerospace who are pioneers in their field. With the industry’s future growth dependent on its ability to decarbonize, battery electric aircraft will play a key role in the regional sector, and I can’t wait to help drive that change by showing governments and policy makers globally what the potential is for this innovative aircraft energy source,” said McNamara.
McNamara has a degree in Aeronautical Engineering (1994) from City University, London and an MSc from Cranfield University (1995).
