We are pleased to name Job Heimerikx, CEO AirFi, as our 2022 Industry Champion Award winner.
Honest, fair, determined, enthusiastic and an innovator. Job Heimerikx was nominated for the Onboard Hospitality Award 2022 Industry Champions Award because of the pivotal role he’s played in influencing and – dare we say – changing the very shape of the IFE and inflight retail market over the past decade.
As a CEO, Job is a facilitative leader who believes in the power of listening and enabling others, open mindedness, and mutual respect.
With Job at the helm, AirFi has a achieved many industry-firsts. The innovations that Job and the team have brought to market have demonstrably improved the lives of passengers and crew through the introduction of inexpensive and easy-to-deploy digital cabin solutions.
In 2011, Job and the AirFi team created the first tablet-based ePOS (electronic point-of-sale) solution. This technology has been adopted around the world and is now the main way that airlines fulfil payments and present passenger information to crew. This innovation that has saved millions of trees, contributes to the sustainability goals of the industry and reduces costs for operators worldwide.
In 2014, AirFi pioneered portable streaming IFE with the introduction of the AirFi box. The goal was to make IFE affordable and accessible for ANY airline. Now, thousands of aircraft worldwide offer IFE that couldn’t before, and more than a dozen new companies are offering own versions of the original solution. The AirFi Box truly disrupted IFE for the better, creating jobs, reducing costs, and bringing the benefits of PED-based inflight entertainment to the world.
More recently, after a second time campaigning for the position, Job was elected to the Association’s Board of Directors, where his mission is simple:
“I think that APEX should be even more open to new innovations to wake up the industry and really support the passenger experience. More than ever in these difficult times, APEX has an important role to play. We must work hard in finding the best solutions to improve the passenger experience and acknowledge airlines that adapt and that implement new ideas, particularly as we all emerge from some very difficult challenges in these last 18 months.”
