Simon McNamara joined Heart Aerospace in 2023 as its Director Government & Industry Affairs responsible for leading their interaction globally with government bodies, regulators and industry stakeholders with a view to advocating for the advancement of battery electric flight and the ES-30. 

Prior to Heart, Simon led IATA’s activities in the United Kingdom & Ireland engaging with Governments across a range of policy areas including sustainability, consumer affairs, air traffic management, aviation taxation and market competition issues.  

Previously he was Director of Communications at the UK regional airline Flybe and prior to that he worked in EU aviation affairs for 18 years culminating in a term as Director General of the European Regions Airline Association (ERA), a European trade body representing regional airlines.

Simon has a degree in Aeronautical Engineering (1994) from City University, London and an MSc from Cranfield University in Air Transport Management (1995).