Brenda Dean

Former Runways UK chairman Brenda Dean, latterly Baroness Dean of Thornton le Fylde, and a contributor to BTN, has died at the age of 74.

Known for her passion for the aviation industry, she came to prominence as the first woman to be elected general secretary of a major manufacturing trade union, the Society of Graphical and Allied Trades (Sogat).

After leaving that post and going to the House of Lords, she took on a variety of jobs including becoming a partnership board director of National Air Traffic services (NATS). She was also chairman of the Freedom to Fly campaign.

Writing in BTN’s ON THE SOAPBOX column in July 2015, she said: “I feel strongly about the crucial role aviation plays in the economic prosperity and well-being of the United Kingdom, so I was delighted to accept in 2013, the role of chair of Runways UK’s advisory board.”

She championed the role of the organisation as an independent discussion body committed to expansion of the UK’s aviation capacity, and hailed its mission to promote debate and concern itself with the short-, medium- and long-term aviation infrastructure and connectivity needs of the UK.

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