SIMON PICKUP is Director, Marketing Operations at Airbus Americas. When he joined Airbus in 1988, he spent the first part of his career as a Toulouse-based Customer Marketing Manager, working primarily on sales and marketing campaigns in the Indian subcontinent and South East Asia. In 1995, he transferred to the U.S. and played several roles. In his current function, he liaises with Airbus' Toulouse headquarters on market strategy, product developments, research and forecasting. In addition to his internal functions, he has also represented Airbus at a variety of external finance, raw materials, transportation, supplier, forecasting and valuation conferences in both the U.S. and Canada. Mr. Pickup holds a Bachelor's degree from Leeds University and a Master's degree in Air Transport Management from Cranfield University.