ASPAC appointment highlights of the month – October 2019

11 November, 2019

The travel, tourism and aviation industries in the ASPAC region 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. The Blue Swan Daily will keep you informed of these movements each month, with a full wrap of the key changes in the ASPAC market, while also looking forward to key appointments announced for the last month.

Here are the key executive changes for October 2019;

  • Air New Zealand appointed Greg Foran as CEO, effective 1Q2020. Mr Foran most recently served as president and CEO of Walmart US.
  • Cathay Pacific appointed Vishal Pillai as regional cargo services manager for South Asia, the Middle East and Africa, effective 01-Oct-2019.
  • Cathay Pacific appointed Lea Bourquin as marketing and PR executive for Switzerland and Germany, effective 10-Oct-2019. Ms Bourquin previously worked for BMK Solutions and Opel Automobile GmbH.
  • Boeing announced its board of directors separated the roles of chairman and CEO on 11-Oct-2019. Dennis A Muilenburg continues as CEO, president and a director. The board elected independent lead director David L Calhoun to serve as non-executive chairman.
  • Air China received a resignation letter from John Slosar on 12-Oct-2019. Mr Slosar has indicated his intention to retire in Nov-2019 as the chairman of the board of directors and a director of Cathay Pacific, and will resign from his position as a non-executive director of Air China effective 06-Nov-2019.
  • PAL Holdings announced its board approved the following on 28-Oct-2019:
    • Resignation of Gilbert Gabriel F Santa Maria as president;
    • Election of Joseph T Chua as director;
    • Appointment of Lucio K Tan Jr as president;
    • Appointment of Johnip G Cua and Joseph T Chua as members of the corporate governance committee.
  • Thai Airways announced the resignation of Ekniti Nitihanprapas as chairman of its board of directors, effective 01-Nov-2019.
  • UPS appointed Michelle Ho as UPS China president, succeeding Harld Peters, effective 01-Nov-2019.
  • UNI Airways announced reappointment of Lin Jhy-Jong as chairman, effective 01-Nov-2019.
  • AirAsia India appointed Vikas Agarwal as CFO, replacing Deepak Mahendra.
  • Indonesia AirAsia confirmed the appointment of Veranita Yosephine Sinaga as CEO.