He joins Inmarsat from Thales, where he was CEO of its InFlyt Experience business, designed to offer in-flight entertainment systems and digital services to air passengers.
Rajeev Suri, CEO of Inmarsat, said: “He brings a wealth of experience and I look forward to working with him as a member of Inmarsat’s executive team as we extend our technology leadership and significantly enhance the services we offer to our partners and customers through new initiatives such as Orchestra and Elera.”
Inmarsat’s Orchestra is intended to become a mesh network that will combine its Elera and other satellite networks with terrestrial 5G and low Earth orbit (LEO) capacity.
Carette (pictured) replaces Philip Balaam, who is moving into a new strategy role at Inmarsat, working with chief strategy officer Fredrik Gustavsson. Suri paid tribute to Balaam’s “pivotal role [that] he played in establishing Inmarsat as a leader in the [in-flight] sector and for his many other contributions to the growth of our aviation business”.
Carette has spent more than 30 years in the aviation industry and previously held several leadership positions within Thales, including as head of its electrical systems business and vice president and managing director of the commercial avionics unit. He holds a degree in engineering from the Institut Polytechnique de Grenoble in France.
