3.16 One of the Government's main aims for the PPP was to bring in more commercial management expertise. Since the inception of the PPP, NATS has done this at Board and senior management level. A more detailed view of the current NATS Board is at Appendix 5. The main changes to date have been:
■ Appointment of a new Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
■ The former Chief Executive Officer has become Chief Operating Officer.
■ Replacement of the non-executive Directors with five non-executive Directors appointed by the Airline Group, including one non-executive Director nominated by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), and three nonexecutive "Partnership Directors" appointed by the Department.
3.17 At senior management level, NATS has made several changes. Recognising the importance of improving the delivery of new systems, the Company has created a new post of Chief Technology and Programmes Officer, appointing to it a former Marconi manager. Reporting to him, there is a Programmes Director, in charge of project delivery, who comes from the management services and engineering group Bechtel. In some respects this is a consolidation of the previous situation, as for the previous two years the post was filled by another Bechtel employee on secondment to NATS to improve the company's delivery of major projects. Other key appointments since the introduction of the PPP include those of Commercial Director (a new post), and new incumbents in the posts of Human Resources Director, Treasurer and Financial Controller. It is too early to demonstrate significant improvements to NATS' performance arising from these changes.