Chris Tarry worked outside the City for a number of years. In 1984 he became an engineering analyst, focusing first on Aviation and voted the UK's leading aerospace analyst for the years that there was a separate FTSE grouping, before switching to focus wholly on transport and particularly airlines, a sector he has followed since 1986. In this period Chris was also regularly ranked in the top three European transport analysts and had led a number of major international share issues, including that of Lufthansa—the world's largest airline privatisation issue.

In December 2002 he established CTAIRA to provide research, consulting services and advice on and to the transport and aviation industries in the areas of strategy and strategic development; industry and market forecasting and performance measurement and evaluation. These services are provided to a broad spectrum of clients.

He has undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in economics and is currently undertaking part-time research for a PhD. He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, a member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, a member of the Securities Institute and an Associate of the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators.

He also holds a private pilots licence. He is a visiting lecturer at Cranfield, City University and the London School of Economics and a Visiting Senior Fellow in the School of Management at the University of Surrey.

He writes a monthly column for Airline Business and regularly writes and comments in other media on industry issues as well as presenting and chairing conferences across the world.