Neil Cairns took up his appointment as CEO in March 2020, bringing to Acro an outstanding track record and many years’ experience in aerospace seating, across the full range of classes.

His high-profile career within the industry encompassed positions as Vice President & General Manager at Collins Aerospace based in Tucson, Arizona and Winston Salem, North Carolina, and as Vice President & Managing Director of the B/E Aerospace seating facility in Kilkeel, Northern Ireland.

Energised by the prospect of guiding Acro to international success, within months of his appointment, industry veteran Neil had already overseen the company’s move to a new 100,000+ square feet facility at Crick in Northamptonshire. The physical move to modern premises, seamlessly accomplished against the challenging backdrop of the UK’s COVID-19 restrictions, marked a change of impetus for Acro, immediately doubling production capacity and paving the way for what will be a period of unprecedented growth for the company.

Neil whose career specialism lies in Operations & Quality Management, has also capitalised on the move to new headquarters as a catalyst for increased intellectual and creative investment, making key senior level appointments and with the introduction of Kaizen, delivering Lean transformation to processes throughout the business and continual performance improvement.  Under his leadership, product development continues to gather pace, with the successful launch in 2021 of a re-imagined lighter weight economy seat and development nearing completion for the next generation Series 6 to target long-haul economy and the redefined Series 7 domestic business-class.

Neil continues to nurture his global network of industry contacts and, whatever the demands of business travel, continues to be an enthusiastic and always curious traveller.  On those rare occasions when he is not working, he prides himself on being a passionate supporter of Newcastle United FC.