Former Birmingham Airport boss dies
10.06.08
Sir Robert Taylor, a former managing director of Birmingham Airport, died on Saturday. He passed away peacefully at the age of 75.
Former colleagues paid tribute to Sir Robert, who worked at the airport for 20 years, joining as an assistant director in 1974 and retiring as managing director in 1994. During his time at the airport he oversaw the opening of the Eurohub, the world's first terminal to combine domestic and international passengers. When he first joined one million people used the airport every year, by his retirement that figure had risen to about five million.
The one-time RAF fighter pilot overcame injuries received in a car crash, which left him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, to lead the airport into a new era. On retiring from the airport, Sir Robert told the workforce that managing the company had been something of a crusade for him as he had been at the airport’s opening ceremony in 1939 with his father.
Joe Kelly, the airport’s current managing director, said: ‘Bob was instrumental in putting the airport into the position we see today and he will be missed by all of those who had the pleasure of knowing, working and learning from him.’
Sir Robert's successor, Brian Summers, said: ‘Bob was a personal inspiration to me and to many others. He was admired throughout the aviation industry and his contribution in putting the airport on to a serious footing when its whole future was uncertain in the 1970s cannot be overstated.’
He held the role of Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of West Midlands from November 1993 until 2006, when he retired early due to health problems. He would have been 76 next Saturday and he and his wife, Sheila, had been married for 50 years. She has requested a private family funeral.
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