Captain Ed Davidson
Senior Vice President
Fleet Emirates Airlines
Based at the company’s corporate headquarters in Dubai, UAE, Captain Davidson is responsible for the worldwide operation of the airline’s fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft as well as all aspects of the management and professional development of their pilot work force.
Ed is a former US Navy pilot with service in Vietnam and is retired from the US Navy Reserve at the rank of Commander. Captain Davidson joined Southern Airways in 1978 on completion of his active duty period. After a merger with North Central Airlines the combination became Republic Airlines and later was acquired by Northwest Airlines. While at Northwest he served as a line pilot, TRI/TRE and was the airline’s chief pilot for their two largest domiciles, Minneapolis and Detroit.
Captain Davidson was later appointed Northwest’s Director of Flight Safety, held the airline’s FAA certificate position as Director of Operations and was involved in Government Affairs representing the Northwest flight operations department in FAA and US Government matters in Washington. During that time he served as the Northwest representative to the Operations Committee of the Air Transport Association and as a member of the IATA Operations Council.
He left Northwest in 2003 to become the Director of Safety for the International Air Transport Association in Montreal, Canada. After serving in that post he returned to Minneapolis to take the position of Vice President of Operations for the largest domestic US charter airline, Champion Air, then wholly-owned by Northwest Airlines. Captain Davidson was later selected in late July 2005 to become the Vice President of Flight Operations at Mesaba Airlines who operates as a Northwest Regional Airlink partner.
In early 2006, Captain Davidson was recruited to become the Vice President – Fleet Operations for the UAE-based Emirates Airline, one of the world’s first operators of the Airbus A380 “Super Jumbo”. Early in 2007 he was promoted to Senior Vice President and is now responsible for all Emirates line flying operations worldwide.
Captain Davidson is a 1971 Graduate of the Pennsylvania Military College (now Weidner University) with a degree in International Relations. He undertook post-graduate executive education at the London Business School in 2004 specializing in Organizational Management and Leadership.
Ed is married with grown children and resides in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He was also a past member of the Board of Directors of the US Federal Credit Union based in the United States and is an elected Fellow of the British Royal Aeronautical Society based in London, England.
