John Barton

John Barton is the non-executive chairman at easyJet. Prior to this, they were a non executive director and digital advisor at Next IT & Systems LLC from August 2020 to September 2022. John also served as the chief information officer and chief digital officer at Abu Dhabi Airports from March 2020 to May 2021. As CIO & CDO, they were a full-time member of the executive committee leading the digital first agenda, directly enabling Abu Dhabi Airports Company digital transformation journey while supporting the efficient and profitable running of the international and regional airports and associated businesses across UAE.

Under Barton's leadership, Abu Dhabi Airports saw a 54% reduction in direct technical staff through strategic outsourcing of IT stable operations as part of the overall strategic restructuring of the company. Barton was also the digital sponsor for transformation programme initiatives ranging from touchless biometrics and smart airport apps to real-time dashboards and video analytics/cognitive decision engine. In addition, they conceived and developed the world's first AI & ML passenger flow optimisation platform, enabling proactive customer arrival time notifications and airport staff optimised scheduling. This led to a £3m reduction in operating costs.

Barton has also served as the chairman of easyJet from September 2020 to present.

John Barton has an MBA from The Open University Business School, a diploma in Company Direction from the Institute of Directors (IoD), and a Project Management qualification from The Open University. John also has a degree in Electronic Engineering & Weapon Systems from the Royal Naval Engineering University, and is currently enrolled on the CIO Impact Programme.