Aecom appoints Crawford Burden as Managing Director

Crawford Burden has joined Aecom as a Managing Director. Based in London, he will lead a team providing strategic advice to aviation clients.

“We are hugely excited to have Crawford join the team,” commented Aecom Director of Global Aviation Bijan Pashanamaei. “His capability to lead and deliver complex multi-disciplinary projects demonstrates his deep understanding of the aviation industry and the challenges our clients face such as capacity constraints, aging infrastructure, environmental sustainability and financial feasibility.

Aecom is one of the world’s largest multinational engineering and consulting firms. The company hosts approximately 51,000 employees, partnering with clients to solve complex challenges around the world.

With the infrastructure consultancy, Burden will function as its aviation lead for Europe and India. As Managing Director in this capacity, Burden will take responsibility for leadership of Aecom’s aviation strategy, business development and project delivery activities across the region. His team will support clients with design, construction management and decarbonisation, among other services, as the aviation industry undergoes significant changes, and faces new challenges as it recovers from the impact of the pandemic.

Burden said, “It is an exciting time to be joining Aecom’s global aviation business and a collaborative team with deep expertise and capability that is well placed to support the industry as it plots a path to sustainable long-term growth. I’m looking forward to building on existing relationships and getting to know new clients as we support the industry through this transition and beyond.”

An experienced project director and business developer, Burden joins from Arcadis where he was most recently Global Aviation Investment Advisory Leader. His three-decade career has seen him work on airports around the world, and he previously also led Arup’s Airport Investment Advisory Team, AviaSolutions where he was a Principal in its transaction support and business planning team. He was also Head of Business Information and Group Business Planning at Manchester Airports Group.

Burden’s appointment comes shortly after the arrival of Nina Schuler – a Technical Director with AECOM’s UK-based climate change resilience wing. Schuler joined in March from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.