Going Places – industry appointment highlights for Dec-2021

The travel, tourism and aviation industries in the across the globe witness policy and upper level changes on a daily basis. It is important to not only keep tabs of these organisations direction, but to also monitor changes in executive branches to see the wider picture of the travel market. CTC – Corporate Travel Community aims to keep you informed of these movements each month, with a full wrap of the key changes across regional markets, while also featuring key appointments announced for the month.

Here are the key executive changes for Dec-2021:

Americas

• Cape Air appointed Linda Markham as CEO, effective 01-Jan-2022.
• American Airlines announced CEO Doug Parker will retire effective 31-Mar-2022. He will continue to serve as chairman of the board of directors. The carrier also announced American Airlines president Robert Isom as Mr Parker's successor.
• American Airlines appointed Derek Kerr as vice chair and president effective 31-Mar-2022, upon Robert Isom's assumption as CEO.
• American Airlines appointed Steve Johnson as EVP and strategic advisor effective 31-Mar-2022, the date Robert Isom becomes CEO.
• Delta Air Lines appointed Pamela Fletcher as chief sustainability officer (CSO) and senior vice president, effective 01-Feb-2022.
• WestJet appointed Alexis von Hoensbroech as CEO of WestJet Group, effective 1Q2022.

Asia Pacific

• IndiGo appointed Neetan Chopra as chief digital and information officer.
• ​​Vistara appointed Deepak Rajawat as chief commercial officer (CCO), effective 01-Jan-2022.
• ​​Vistara CCO Vinod Kannan commenced in the role of Vistara CEO on 01-Jan-2022. He replaces Leslie Thng as Vistara CEO.
• SriLankan Airlines CEO Vipula Gunatilleka plans to retire from his role by the end of 2021. 

Europe, Middle East & Africa

• Edelweiss Air appointed David Birrer COO and accountable manager effective 01-Mar-2022.
• Yakutia Airlines appointed Andrey Semenovich Vinokurov as general director.
• Lufthansa Group announced the following changes in its top management:
  • Jens Ritter: Member of the executive board and COO of Eurowings, will become CEO of Lufthansa on 01-Apr-2022, succeeding Klaus Froese;
  • Annette Mann: Head of corporate responsibility at Lufthansa Group, will become the new CEO of Austrian Airlines from 01-Mar-2022, subject to nomination by the respective supervisory board bodies. Annette Mann succeeds Alexis von Hoensbroech;
  • Joerg Beißel: Head of corporate controlling at the Lufthansa Group, will assume the position of CFO of Lufthansa Airlines as of 01-Apr-2022. He succeeds Patrick Staudacher.
• Austrian Airlines announced the immediate departure of CEO and CFO Alexis von Hoensbroech, due to competitive reasons, ahead of his appointment as Westjet CEO in 1Q2022.
• Lufthansa Cargo appointed Dietmar Focke as chief operations and human resources officer from 01-Mar-2022, subject to approval from the supervisory board, succeeding Harald Gloy.
• Air Serbia announced the appointment of GM commercial and strategy Jiří Marek as CEO, effective 01-Jan-2022.