Head of the National Flag Carrier, Michael Thomas Adam was granted Queen’s Birthday Honours 2005 for services to aviation and the community during and after Hurricane Ivan.
Mr. Adam was named a Member of the British Empire, announced by Governor Bruce Dinwiddy at the Queen’s Birthday Honours Parade recently.
‘It was a pleasant surprise and an honour to receive the award,’ said the President and CEO of Cayman Airways Ltd. ‘There are lots of other people out there that are as qualified, if not more qualified, than me, but I humbly accept it.’
Born in 1949, Mr. Adam was raised in George Town and graduated from Triple C High School in 1968.
He joined British West Indies Airways, a natural move since his dad had been country manager for the airline in Cayman.
In 1971, after BWIA stopped flying to Cayman, Mr. Adam began his career with CAL as supervisor of customer service, and in 1977 was promoted to station manager.
In 1985 he was made senior manager of ground handling and in 1995 was promoted to general manager.
In 1999, he was named executive VP of customer service and chief operations officer. He took the helm as CEO in 2001.
Mr. Adam is on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. When Hurricane Ivan hit, his insistence on ongoing disaster preparedness and crisis-management training for airline staff ensured that the airline was prepared well in advance of the storm.
By the Thursday before the storm, he had activated the airline’s plan.
After operating back-to-back flights, evacuating as many visitors and residents as possible, all aircraft were flown overseas for safety.
For weeks afterward, Mr. Adam orchestrated the departure of more than 6,000 passengers. With extreme heat and no supplies or utilities available, he and CAL staff aided evacuees while co-ordinating arriving relief flights.
Most days, he and his staff were at the airport before dawn, leaving after midnight.
Mr. Adam lives in Boatswain’s Bay, West Bay. He is an active member of the Rotary Club of Grand Cayman, and assists island youth in his spare time .
He is married to Lissa Adam and has four children: Jordan, Wendy, Eric and Cindy.
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