Sir Giles Connop McEachern Guthrie, 2nd Baronet, OBE, DSC, JP (21 March 1916 – 31 December 1979) was an English aviator, merchant banker and later, an airline industry executive, serving as the chairman and chief executive of the state owned airline British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC).

[3] His father, Connop, had served as an officer during the early stages of World War I but following injury, managed the American operations of the Ministry of Shipping.

He took up business roles after the war, directing City General Trust before purchasing North Central Wagon Company in a joint venture with Prudential Assurance in 1928.

[5][6] Guthrie learned to fly on the de Havilland Tiger Moth whilst a student at Eton College aged 16, and was awarded his Private pilot licence on turning 17.

[3] He continued flying whilst at Cambridge, taking ownership of a Percival Vega Gull, an aircraft he flew extensively in 1936 and 1937, competing in several competitions as a co-pilot to Charles Gardner.

[3][7] His first posting with 808 Naval Air Squadron was on dockyard and Scapa Flow protection duties, flying Fairey Fulmars from various bases around the British coast.

808 Naval Air Squadron pilots, including Guthrie, would also fly Hawker Hurricane aircraft from Gibraltar during this time.

[12] He initially asked Edward Heath in 1946 to join North Central as the deputy chairman, with a view to him taking over as chairman, but Heath, who was interested in running for Parliament, thought moving from London to Rotherham, where North Central was based, would be damaging to his political ambitions and turned down the offer.

Guthrie joined the Air Registration Board (predecessor of the Civil Aviation Authority) in September 1964, serving as an airline representative.

[7] BOAC was suffering from significant financial problems when Guthrie took over, and the airline had run at a loss from 1958 through to 1963, returning to profitability in 1963–1964.

[21] The plans to acquire the Vickers VC10, which would eventually call for a fleet of 45 to be purchased by 1967, resulted in the resignations of Matthew Slattery, Guthrie's predecessor as chairman, and his managing director, Basil Smallpeice.

[21] They believed BOAC had no requirement for all the aircraft ordered, that the Vickers VC10 would be too expensive to operate, and that the government's 'Buy British' policy would prevent the airline from returning to profitability.

[25] His initial proposals involved complementary decisions to reduce the number of destinations and routes served, and scaling back the size of the fleet, which was planned to reach 100 aircraft by 1970.

[26] His final request when taking up his appointment was that the airline's debt of £80m should be written off by the government, and the company refinanced, as if it was a new start-up.

Guthrie successfully resisted pressure to purchase a proposed double-deck variant of the Vickers Super VC10, and was given permission to place an order for six Boeing 747-100 aircraft in August 1966.

Guthrie would attempt to deal with industrial relations issues and strike action which affected BOAC, like many state-owned companies in the 1960s and 1970s.

[27][33] He was responsible for cutting the executive headcount by a quarter, and more than 3,000 staff made redundant, with some being replaced by the new computer systems he introduced to streamline the business.

They purchased a sizeable house situated in its own valley, and Rhona, Lady Guthrie set about renovating the overgrown gardens.

Guthrie would have led a syndicate owning one of four boats, the fastest of which would have gone forward to challenge the New York Yacht Club for the trophy.