Hi Momentary Lapse,
Firstly, thankyou for your response to my posting and I do accept that you intend no offence. Likewise, I too intend no offence to any contributor or reader of this board.
Your new post does , however, put to us a new question: "What would a visitor from for instance an Asian or Japanese airline think when he or she met the management [of Manchester Airport]." Please permit me to answer this.
If you represented a British airline and made a business trip to meet executives of Narita, Haneda and Kansai Airports, would you be offended to discover that they are managed by Japanese people? Is it shocking that JAL and All Nippon are managed by Japanese people? Would you decide not to operate there because none of their senior executive teams are British? Likewise, is it an insult that Rome Airport is managed by Italians or Sao Paolo by Brazilians?
If you accept that the above is entirely proper and to be expected then please recognise that UK airports are in no way exhibiting prejudice by employing British citizens (regardless of skin colour etc) in key roles. It is the natural state of affairs. No airline is offended by finding any business to be run by the nationals of it's home country, and few would suggest that any prejudice is implied by this.
Manchester Airport has worked very hard to promote a culture of equality. Please do not rush to denigrate that with expectations which would not reasonably be asked of any business in any country. MAN's equal opportunities record is outstanding in comparison to most businesses worldwide.
Finally - and I don't mean to nit-pick here - when you say "an Asian OR Japanese airline" ... well I'm sure you realise that Japanese people are Asians. But I think I take your point.
To close, I simply ask you to recognise and compliment MAplc for their efforts in promoting equal opportunities and not try to publicly portray them as a 'rogue company' in this respect. I have seen no evidence to suggest that they deserve a "guilt trip" with regard to their equal opportunities record. Their heart is in the right place. Remember that this board is widely read, and "mud sticks."
Finally, I thank moderator 'PPRUNE Pop' for his comments. I hope that my defence of MAplc within this posting falls within your approved guidelines; if not, please delete it. My aim is simply to refute with detailed reasoning any suggestion that Manchester Airport is operated in a racist or otherwise inequitable manner.
All the best. SHED.