Simon Leslie
Joint CEO, Ink
Producing 33 in-flight magazines for 24 airlines worldwide… and how the covid crisis ultimately bought opportunity
Simon Leslie is the founder and joint chief executive of Ink. Founded in 1994, they are the world’s leading travel media company, producing 33 in-flight magazines for 24 airlines worldwide, including many of the largest carriers in the world, such as Easyjet and Virgin Atlantic. In this in-depth interview, Simon talks through the “incredible challenge” the pandemic caused the air travel industry, tackling the terrible devastation that the global depression bought on both aerospace and adjacent industries such as media; discusses the “enforced pivot” covid bought them, and his determination to “seize the opportunity to transform the company,” and grow in a new direction producing airport television and digital content; and shares how his latest book ‘White Belt Thinking’ documented these recent challenges and the “cathartic experience.”