VERY touchy Andrew C.
Back to the point in question. Would anyone like to start up a Friends of Tesco or Unilever or Arriva Buses? It's the same principle. Teesside Airport is a commercial enterprise and should be recruiting it's own friends through it's own efforts to give customers what they want. Send the staff Christmas cards and lots of complimentary comments by all means if you must but Friends Of ? Get real they will drop anyone like a brick if it suits their purpose.