HE began his career checking in passengers. Today Jim French is the head of Europe's biggest independent regional airline, as Sheryl Moore discovers...

WHEN a young Jim French was checking in passengers at his local airport almost 40 years ago, little did he know his career was set for take-off.

After all, he had ambitions of becoming a civil engineer, and the part-time job was simply a way of earning extra cash.

Today Jim is the chairman and chief executive of Europe's biggest regional independent airline, Flybe. It is a journey that has taken him up and down the country, and his vast experience will now stand him in good stead for these turbulent economic times.

Flybe operates 16 routes out of Manchester Airport after adding a couple of new ones this year and, unlike some of its rivals, saw passenger numbers for September increase by 14 per cent on 2007.

Manchester Airport has become an important hub for Flybe following its takeover of British Airways' regional airline BA Connect, and Jim says it will continue to be so for the foreseeable future.

"We are just entering recession and it will have an impact on everyone. However, as some of the bigger boys give up certain routes we will be waiting to pick them up."

Born in the Scottish borders, Jim got his first taste of the airline industry as 16 when he worked for Caledonian Airways at Prestwick Airport checking in passengers.

It was a job he continued to do while studying for a degree in civil engineering.

However, after being `asked to leave' in his second year for concentrating too much on playing rugby, Jim got a full-time job with the airline, which by that time had changed its name to British Caledonian.

He moved to Gatwick, where he worked `on the ramp' making sure aircrafts were OK for take-off. It was while in London that the then 19-year-old Jim met his future wife, and after they were married the pair packed in their jobs and headed off to start a new life in Devon.

Jim says: "We had been there on holiday and fell in love with the idea of renovating our own thatched cottage, so that's what we did.

"When we arrived I got a job at a tiny airline called British Ireland Airways which had six aircraft, and I was back to checking in passengers and writing out boarding passes.

"At the same time, we renovated the house, became self-sufficient with a collection of pigs, goats, sheep and chickens, and enjoyed the good life."

Six years after arriving in Devon, Jim was a offered a job with the airline, which was by then called Air UK, back in Sussex, and the whole family, complete with animals, moved to the south east.

"It was like Noah's Ark going up the motorway," laughs Jim.

Once back in Sussex, Jim worked his way up the ladder to become deputy managing director, but after a few years he decided to return to Devon.

"I missed the way of life, so I handed in my notice, and headed back to Devon."

Once back, Jim became a consultant at Jersey European Airways, which was owned by the Walker family of Blackburn. The head office was based in Exeter and in 2001 Jim became managing director.

However, the following year after the events of September 11, the airline had begun to haemorrhage money and a radical overall was needed.

Jim said: "The airline had suffered from the growing dominance of the likes of easyjet and Go, and was losing around £17m a year. We had been in business 21 years and employed 1,200 staff, whose jobs needed protecting.

"We completely changed its focus and renamed it Flybe, which was a much more consumer friendly brand. While we kept the traditional values of customer service, we greatly enhanced our internet presence and what emerged was a simpler, more efficient and competitive organisation."

Jim is also very proud of Flybe's green credentials, for which it has won a number of awards. All of its 75 aircraft have been gradually replaced with more fuel efficient planes, making Flybe's fleet one of the youngest in the world.

Since 2002, the business has experienced on average 25 per cent growth each year, with a huge turning point last year when Flybe took over BA Connect.

Jim says: "In late 2006, we had a coffee with British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh, and early the following year we signed on the dotted line. Connect was losing around £40m a year, and British Airways paid us £100m to take it off its hands.

"However, the deal was a fantastic opportunity to give us a very big base in Manchester as well as opening up routes to Europe, as until then we were mainly a UK regional airline."

Today Flybe, which turns over £530m, offers 190 routes to 12 countries from the UK. Last year it made £35m profit, but what about the future?

"There is a recession ahead, but we are a very strong and financially sound business," says Jim. "And for us, there will be opportunities out there for new routes following further consolidation in the market.

"While we are not immune and recruitment and introducing new routes are on the back burner, we will still make a profit this year and I bet it will be better than most of the airlines around the world."