Karen Starling

• Accountable for the oversight and effectiveness of the Compliance Monitoring Function in line with UK CAA Air Ops requirements
• Direct engagement with UK CAA on regulatory oversight, audits, findings and continued operational approvals
• Ownership of compliance risk management, ensuring findings are understood, properly root caused and closed with effective corrective action
• Designed and delivered a risk-based audit programme aligned to operational priorities across AOC and CAMO environments
• Reporting to the Accountable Manager and Safety Review Board on compliance performance, risks, emerging trends and systemic issues
• Driving continuous improvement of the Management System, ensuring it remains proportionate, effective and regulator credible
• Leading and developing the compliance team and audit capability, ensuring consistency of approach and output
• Oversight of third-party and leasing compliance arrangements, including ACMI assurance and operational risk visibility
• Influencing senior stakeholders and Nominated Persons to ensure compliance is embedded in operational decision-making

• Accountable for the oversight of wet lease (ACMI) operations, ensuring third-party operators met UK AOC regulatory and safety requirements
• Established leasing oversight and assurance frameworks for all contracted operators, enhancing regulatory compliance and safety
• Delivered audit and assurance activities across ACMI operators, identifying and managing compliance risks effectively
• Created, implemented and led the TUI Group leasing project to centralise leasing activities across five AOCs, driving consistency in oversight and governance
• Led operator approval, onboarding and ongoing performance monitoring within leasing arrangements
• Acted as primary interface between TUI Airways, contracted AOCs and internal stakeholders on all leasing compliance matters
• Standardised leasing oversight processes, aligning with compliance and management system requirements to improve governance
• Provided visibility of third-party operational risk, escalating issues and influencing decision-making at senior level
• Supported operational delivery during peak periods, ensuring leasing activity remained compliant whilst commercially effective

• Led Dangerous Goods programme activity across Amazon Air EU, ensuring alignment with ICAO Technical Instructions and IATA DGR requirements
• Drove initiatives to mitigate DG-related operational risk by addressing mis-sorts and incorrect handling across air logistics network
• Established and led a cross-functional EU–US working group, driving engagement with FAA Dangerous Goods teams and strengthening regulatory alignment
• Developed and implemented DG reporting processes, improving visibility of compliance performance, trends and emerging risks
• Collaborated with internal stakeholders across operations, safety and logistics to implement practical and scalable DG controls
• Enhanced awareness and mitigation strategies for undeclared and hidden dangerous goods among operational and safety teams
• Used data-led insights to identify risk areas and drive continuous improvement across a high-volume air operation

• Oversaw compliance monitoring across AOC and ATO domains within multi-AOC group structure, ensuring adherence to regulatory standards
• Engaged directly with UK CAA and EASA on compliance oversight, findings and regulatory alignment
• Reported compliance performance, risks and emerging trends to Accountable Managers and senior leadership forums, facilitating informed decision-making
• Oversaw findings management, ensuring robust root cause analysis and effective corrective action across the organisation
• Created and implemented a risk-based audit programme across three airline AOCs, shifting the organisation from traditional compliance auditing to a performance-based monitoring approach
• Embedded the Compliance Risk Assessment (CRA) methodology, enabling targeted oversight aligned to operational risk and business priorities
• Led delivery of the integrated audit programme using cross-functional auditors across operational domains
• Led and developed audit capability across team, enhancing consistency and regulatory understanding while elevating output quality
• Contributed to the establishment of easyJet Europe and wider group structure, ensuring compliance frameworks remained effective through organisational change

Various roles from Cabin crew, Crew instructor and Compliance auditor