Florian Guillermet nominated as new Executive Director of the SESAR Joint Undertaking

The SESAR Joint Undertaking (SJU) is delighted to announce that Florian Guillermet, Deputy Executive Director of the SJU, has been selected for the position of Executive Director. Florian’s appointment comes at a time when the SJU and its members prepare for the next phase of SESAR, Europe’s ambitious research and development (R&D) programme on Air Traffic Management (ATM).

Commenting on his appointment, Florian said: “SESAR is Europe’s most ambitious research and development programme and I am extremely honoured to have been chosen to steer the programme.”

Since joining the SJU in 2008, Florian has spearheaded major strategic and operational shifts across SESAR’s R&D process. His expertise and knowledge of ATM and the SESAR Programme will be key as the programme continues to develop a growing number of SESAR solutions, mature enough to be taken on board by the industry.

“After an exhaustive process, with a number of very strong candidates, we believe that the right person to lead the SESAR Joint Undertaking is Florian Guillermet,” said Matthias Ruete, Chairman of the Administrative Board of SESAR, and Director-General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE) at the European Commission. “Florian is a proven leader with strong technical skills, business acumen and the ability to bring people together. We believe that his extensive experience and clear vision of the required R&D process to modernise Europe’s ATM is exactly what SESAR needs as it moves to the next level of ambition.”

Florian has worked in the field of civil aviation for over 15 years, where he has been in charge of various operational and technical projects. His experience ranges from ATM systems definition and implementation to network operations management. Starting his career in the flight planning department of Air France, he then held several managerial positions at the French Air Navigation Service Provider, DSNA, before joining the European Central Flow Management Unit at Eurocontrol.

In June 2008, he joined the SJU as Chief Programme Officer where he was responsible for the definition and execution of the SESAR Programme. He was appointed Deputy Executive Director, Operations and Programme in January 2012.

Florian’s appointment should be effective as of 1 April 2014, subject to the completion of the necessary administrative procedures required to finalise the recruitment. In anticipation of his new appointment, Florian is eager to get started “the challenges ahead for Europe’s ATM are vast; to overcome them, we must focus on accelerating the take up of SESAR solutions by the industry. I am looking forward to working with the members, partners and SJU staff to deliver improvements to Europe’s ATM as quickly, safely and effectively as possible,” said Florian.