Going Places – industry appointment highlights for Jan-2021

11 February, 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 Jan-2021:

Americas

  • Delta Cargo appointed Jannie Davel as MD commercial and Vishal Bhatnagar as MD global cargo operations, effective immediately.
  • Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian announced the following appointments, effective immediately:
    • Alain Bellemare as president of the company's international organisation;
    • Michelle Horn as senior VP and chief strategy officer.
  • Wheels Up appointed Francesca Molinari as chief people officer
  • WestJet announced the retirement of executive VP and COO Jeff Martin, effective 26-Feb-2021.
  • Wheels Up announced the appointment of Laura Heltebran as chief legal officer.
  • Delta Air Lines announced plans to appoint Henry Ting as chief health officer, effective 15-Feb-2021.
  • Allegiant Air announced the following leadership appointments, effective 01-Feb-2021:
    • Rebecca Henry as senior VP and chief human resources officer. Ms Henry previously served as VP people services for the company;
    • Robert Neal as senior VP corporate finance and treasurer. Mr Neal previously served as VP fleet and corporate finance for the company;
    • Drew Wells will serve as senior VP revenue.

Asia Pacific

  • Royal Brunei Airlines appointed deputy chief operating officer Capt Hj Khalidkhan bin Hj Asmakhan as new CEO, replacing Karam Chand effective 06-Jan-2021.
  • Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka announced the following key appointments to the executive leadership team to further drive transformation:
    • Lisa Burquest to become chief people officer;
    • Alistair Hartley to become chief transformation officer. Mr Hartley most recently served as director of strategy at IAG;
    • David Marr to become chief financial officer;
    • Nick Rohrlach to become CEO Velocity. Mr Rohrlach most recently served as Jetstar Japan co-CEO;
    • Susan Schneider promoted to become chief legal and risk officer;
    • Moksha Watts to become chief corporate affairs officer.
  • Vistara's chief information and innovation officer Ravinder Pal Singh resigned his position, effective 15-Jan-2021.
  • Eastar Jet appointed Yu-sang Kim as CEO. He will replace Jong-gu Choi in the CEO role and Mr Choi will continue to serve as president.
  • Cathay Pacific announced the appointment of Rebecca Jane Sharpe as executive director and CFO, succeeding Martin James Murray, effective 25-Jan-2021.

EMEA

  • IAG announced Javier Ferran succeeded Antonio Vazquez as chairman. Mr Vazquez retired as a director of the company and chairman of the board on 07-Jan-2021.
  • Camair-Co's board appointed Jean Claude Ayem Moger as chair.
  • Aero Contractors appointed Abdullahi Zubair Mahmood as CEO, succeeding Ado Sanusi.
  • SAS announced president and CEO Rickard Gustafson decided to leave the company after 10 years of service, effective 01-Jul-2021.
  • Lufthansa Group appointed Thomas Rückert as new chief information officer, effective 01-Jan-2021.
  • Edelweiss Air appointed Dieter Vranckx as chairperson, succeeding Thomas Klühr, effective 01-Jan-2021.
  • Corsair appointed David Le Métayer as CFO, effective 06-Jan-2021.