Thales InFlyt Experience Names Philippe Carette as New CEO
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APEX Insight: After five years as CEO of Thales InFlyt Experience, Dominique Giannoni is taking on a new leadership role within Thales Group. He will be replaced by Philippe Carette on August 1, 2018.
Philippe Carette is to execute the next chapter of Thales InFlyt Experience’s digital transformation, with an ongoing focus on the four core areas of investment across the Thales Group – connectivity, big data, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity – as outlined by outgoing Thales InFlyt Experience CEO Dominique Giannoni.
With more than 30 years of experience in the aviation industry, Carette has previously held several leadership positions within Thales, including VP and managing director of the Commercial Avionics unit. “Philippe’s focus on customer success makes him an indispensable partner for airline customers,” said Alan Pellegrini, CEO of Thales USA. “He brings a global perspective and unwavering commitment to excellence in execution and customer service.”
Key projects for Carette in the near future will include overseeing the installation of Thales’ AVANT in-flight entertainment system and Inmarsat’s GX Aviation across Emirates’ 777X fleet before deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2020. Emirates ordered 150 of the aircraft from Boeing in 2013.
“Philippe’s focus on customer success makes him an indispensable partner for airline customers.” – Alan Pellegrini, CEO, Thales USA
Carette will also work closely with Spirit Airlines, which became the launch customer for FlytLIVE, Thales’ Ka-band high-throughput connectivity solution for the U.S., in May 2018. Spirit’s entire all-Airbus fleet of A319, A320 and A321 aircraft is due to be operating with FlytLIVE by the end of summer 2019.
Throughout his tenure, Giannoni saw Thales InFlyt Experience through some big changes, including the segmentation of its IFE offering “to better match the expectations of the airlines,” according to Giannoni. In addition to its AVANT solution, which Giannoni says has reached over 1,000 orders and is flying on 500 aircraft, the company introduced its Core and Prestige offerings in April 2018. Another milestone for Giannoni was the launch of the InFlyt 360 platform in 2017.
In terms of advice for Carette, Giannoni says, “What I’ve learned in this business is that we need to focus on understanding and listening to our customers. Also, we have a great team of more than 2,000 people in IFE, so I would say to leverage the team.”