Christine Ourmières-Widener


Christine Jeanne Ourmières-Widener FRAeS is a French businesswoman and the former Chief Executive Officer of Flybe.

Early life

She was born in Avignon, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. She studied for a degree from the École nationale supérieure de mécanique et d'aérotechnique where she received a degree in aeronautical engineering. She gained a business qualification from ESSEC Business School.

Career

She worked at Air France from 1988, where she started in the maintenance team for the Concorde. Her responsibilities grew into a commercial role where she eventually headed the Air France KLM team for North America based in New York. Subsequently appointed UK and Ireland Managing Director for Air France, she was then named Chief Executive of the Irish airline CityJet, after it was bought by Air France, from 1 October 2010 to 2015. She was for some time part of the European Regions Airline Association.
On 20 December 2016, it was announced that she was joining Flybe. She became Chief Executive of Flybe on 16 January 2017. During their annual meeting in 2018, it was announced by the IATA that she had been elected to the board of directors of the organisation. She was the first woman elected to the board of 31 members. She had been appointed interim director on 24 April 2017, when :pt:Fernando Pinto|Fernando Pinto stepped down.
On 29 May 2019, she resigned as CEO of Flybe, with her departure taking effect on 15 July of the same year. The move came following recurring financial problems in the company, which will be taken over by Connect Airways, a consortium of Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Air and a US investor.

Personal life

She runs marathons. Her husband Floyd Murray Widener works as a consultant. She has three children.