Capt. Jack Jessop, a former flight operations director and board member of British Airways and a longtime member of the Flight Safety Foundation Board of Governors, died Tuesday. He was 97.
Capt. Jessop began his aviation career as a first officer for Aquila Airways and later joined BKS Air Transport. He became the company’s chief executive when its name was changed in 1970 to Northeast Airlines.
In 1974, when Northeast merged with two other airlines to form the British Airways Regional Division, Capt. Jessop became its chief executive, tasked with overhauling the operation, and in 1977, when British Airways combined its regional, European and overseas divisions, he was named its flight operations director. He remained as a non-executive director for many years after his term as executive director ended, and retired in 1991 after 14 years as a British Airways board member.
He was appointed by Queen Elizabeth as a commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, a title that recognized his achievements in aviation.