Causeway Aero appoints Francis Kelly to Board

Above: Francis Kelly (left) has been appointed Senior Vice President, Delivery and Growth at Causeway Aero Group Ltd. Francis is pictured here with CEO, Michael Rice.
Courtesy Causeway Aero

Michael Rice, CEO, said: “This is quite a coup for Causeway Aero. Francis’s reputation precedes him given his time with Collins Aerospace’s seat production facility in Kilkeel and then in their galley production facility in the Philippines. He has an exceptional reputation for delivery and building scalable businesses.

“We are honoured to have him join our Board and manage the integration of our production and engineering teams ensuring that Causeway delivers on time, every time, for all of our customers. This is good news indeed.”

Causeway Aero Group is a turnkey cabin interiors and airframe structures solutions provider of technical solutions with quality management, procurement, sub contract and assembly capabilities. The company recently secured work with Pitch Aircraft Seating Systems Ltd as well as in the mass transit sector.

Francis Kelly, Senior VP Delivery and Growth said: “When I was first introduced to Michael, Peter and Rick, I was immediately impressed with the professionalism and rapid pace of development within the company. They have a true ‘make it happen’ culture, which immediately resonated with me.

“The depth and breadth of their in-house engineering team is second to none but when I saw their new Lissue production facility in Lisburn I knew that I was going to join the company. Given that it only took them three months to have it ready for Civil Aviation Authority audit, is pretty incredible and exactly what the aerospace industry needs!

“Causeway’s strategic focus is to deliver a full system integrator production facility for third party seating and galley/monuments brands, so their fit for me was perfect. After 35 years in the aero interiors industry, I am, once again, enthused and excited to be part of such a dynamic team.”

“Causeway is doing it right. They have invested heavily in their infrastructure and systems to ensure delivery and scalability in advance and have their seating production facility open for business. The Pitch production is well advanced and there are discussions with other brands to support their production with sub-assemblies. Their galley/monument facility is also advanced, so it’s a very exciting time to be joining the company.”

Michael Rice concluded: “Francis joins with the remit of ensuring Causeway’s systems and culture are 100% customer centric and supporting a highly scalable operation.

“It doesn’t get better than having Francis Kelly on our Board and given his experience at mass production of seats and galleys over his 35 years with Collins (Aerospace), we are very pleased indeed. Personally, I take this as the ultimate endorsement of everything Causeway has already achieved in such a short period of time. This is the start of another exciting chapter for Causeway.”