Meet our team

Phil Wardlaw joined Virgin Atlantic in 2004. Between 2004 and 2021, he held several positions across Operations, Engineering and Maintenance. He has led the Outsourced Maintenance function where he was accountable for all third-party heavy maintenance activities, including the contracting and procurement of these services. He subsequently held the position of Vice President Maintenance, responsible for all of the Virgin Atlantic aircraft maintenance teams in the UK bases, overseas and third-party facilities.

In 2015 he took responsibility for the Operation, taking the position of Vice President Operations & Crewing, also being responsible for the Crew Logistics teams. In 2016 he took up the position of Vice President Engineering Services, with responsibilities including Supply Chain, Contracting, New Fleet Programmes and Aircraft Acquisitions & Returns, before moving, in 2017 to the position of Vice President Engineering & Maintenance.

At the beginning of 2022, he moved to the position of Managing Director Virgin Atlantic Cargo, responsible for all Virgin Atlantic Cargo functions, including Sales, Customer, Operations and Commercial. He is a Trustee and Board Member of the Virgin Atlantic Foundation, supporting young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to reach their potential through education, with a particular lens on Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.

He is also a graduate of the Warwick Business School in England where he graduated with a Masters in Business Administration.

Paul Fallon is Commercial Director for Cargo, and is responsible for long-term financial planning, revenue management, product and partnerships, data and insights, commercial operations and digital.

Starting his career with Nestlé UK, responsible for customer relationship management and revenue generation, and later spending four years in charge of regional sales development at bmi, Paul joined Virgin Atlantic in 2003 in its Commercial division and was later seconded to the role of Business Project Manager for the airline’s £5 million Systems Transformation Project.

In 2010, Paul was promoted to Head of Business Development, Cargo, which included managing the development and implementation of joint venture strategies with Delta Air Lines and other Virgin businesses. Prior to taking his current post in 2017, he spent two years as Director, Cargo Operations & Business Development, with responsibility for the global cargo operation, the delivery of a world class customer experience, safety and security through greater efficiency, business improvement and innovation.

Steve Buckerfield has been Director Sales, Cargo since 2017 and is responsible for the airline’s global cargo sales team and its online and offline general sales agency partners.

Focused on optimising the financial performance of Virgin Atlantic’s global network, Steve’s role includes primary responsibility for relationships with the senior management of Virgin Atlantic’s global customers, and oversight and management of the Cargo CRM database and sales administration process.

Steve started his career with Emery Worldwide in 1984, becoming Southern Area Sales Manager before moving into the airline cargo industry with American Airlines in 1990. He spent 14 years at American, ultimately holding the post of Managing Director Cargo Sales Europe. In 2004, he was appointed Managing Director of Walker Freight Services and, later, C.H. Robinson Worldwide (UK) following its acquisition of Walker in 2009. Prior to joining Virgin Atlantic, Steve spent three years as MD, UK & I, at Toll Global Forwarding.