The Association carries the name of François-Xavier Bagnoud, a helicopter pilot specialized in rescue operations, who dedicated his life to providing assistance to others.

By the end of his secondary studies, he was already a licensed and experienced pilot. An aeronautics enthusiast, he entered the Department of Aerospace Studies of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1979. After excelling in his studies, he obtained his engineering degree and published a reference manual: "Theory of the Helicopter for Private Pilots".

His passion for flying was such that he became the youngest professional Instrument Flight Related (IFR) airplane and helicopter pilot in Europe at age 23. This same ardor, combined with and extreme generosity, led him to join his father’s company, Air Glaciers, in Sion, Switzerland. Within three years, he carried out some 300 rescue flights in the Alps, and in the deserts of Africa.

He lost his life in 1986 at the age of 24 years, during a helicopter-borne mission in Mali. In 1989, his mother Albina du Boisrouvray, his family and their friends founded the Association François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) in order to pursue, in the field of development, the rescue missions that he led and perpetuate the values of generosity and compassion that guided his life, focusing on AIDS orphans and vulnerable children.