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Kenneth Gile appointed flydubai COO

Dubais new low cost airline flydubai has announced the appointment of its Chief Operating Officer, a key step in preparing the airline to begin operations by mid-2009.

Flydubai was formed by the government of Dubai in March this year and placed the largest ever order for Boeing 737 aircraft by a Gulf based low cost carrier, when it ordered 54 737-800s at the Farnborough Air Show last month.

The airline announced today that Kenneth Gile had joined the company as Chief Operating Officer from Skybus Airlines an American low cost carrier, where he was President and Chief Operating Officer for four years.

Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer of flydubai, said: "Ken has a wealth of experience working with low cost carriers and we are proud to have been able to attract him to Dubai to work with flydubai. Ken's experience will be invaluable in getting flydubai off the ground.

"This is our first appointment and a very important one for us. Now that we have made this key appointment, we can move forward with the work of getting our airline ready to begin commercial operations in mid 2009."

As Chief Operating Officer of flydubai, Captain Gile will be responsible for the day to day running of the airline and have specific responsibility for strategic planning, in-flight services, ground operations, flight operations, maintenance and engineering, as well as acting as the Director of Operations.

Captain Gile worked in a variety of positions at Southwest Airlines over a period of 25 years, including Chief Pilot and Director of Flight Operations and has previously worked for Saudi Arabian Airlines.

Captain Gile, said: "I have worked in aviation my whole career, and much of that time has been spent working with low cost carriers, so I believe I have a lot to offer flydubai. The flydubai business model is strong and we are working hard to assemble an unbeatable product and a top class team of individuals."

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