Going Places – industry appointment highlights for Sep-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 Sep-2021:

Americas

• JetBlue Airways appointed Ursula Hurley as CFO, effective immediately.
• Cayman Islands' Ministry of Tourism and Transport appointed Jude Scott as chairman of Cayman Airways' board.
• Southwest Airlines announced its COO Mike Van de Ven has also been appointed as president, effective immediately.
• Amerijet International announced the carrier's executive chairman Vic Karjian will become interim CEO from 18-Sep-2021.
• WestJet announced its executive VP and CFO Harry Taylor will assume the role of interim president and CEO, with a transition period to take place between late Nov-2021 and mid Dec-2021. Mr Taylor will replace Ed Sims who is retiring. The carrier's VP of finance planning & analysis Jennifer Bue will become interim CFO.
• Mesa Air Group appointed Torque Zubeck as Mesa Airlines CFO.
• Amerijet International announced CEO Tim Strauss withdrew plans to resign as CEO and will continue in the role.
• Flybondi promoted Federico Pastori to chief commercial officer and Guillermo Peña to chief revenue officer.
• Avianca Holdings appointed Fernando Lara as executive vice president and chief information officer.

Asia Pacific

• Akasa appointed Ankur Goel as CFO.
• Air China's board approved the appointment of Yan Simeng as chief information officer.
• Thai Airways announced its plan administrators approved the appointment of Suvadhana Sibunruang as acting CEO from 01-Oct-2021.
• Jalan Kalrock Consortium appointed Sudhir Gaur as Jet Airways acting CEO.
• Vistara appointed Vinod Kannan as CEO, commencing 01-Jan-2022.
• Air New Zealand announced chief operating officer (COO) Carrie Hurihanganui resigned.

Europe, Middle East and Africa

• Lufthansa Group announced Jörg Eberhart, currently president and CEO of Air Dolomiti, will assume the role of head of strategy & organisational development at Lufthansa Group, effective 01-Oct-2021.
• Jambojet's board confirmed the appointment of Karanja Ndegwa as MD and CEO, effective 02-Sep-2021.
• Wizz Air UK appointed Marion Geoffroy as managing director, succeeding Owain Jones.
• Icelandair announced the resignation of Jens Thordarson as COO, effective 4Q2021.
• Kuwait Airways appointed Maan Mahmoud Al-Razouqi as CEO.
• Norse Atlantic Airways announced the appointment of Andrew Hodges as CCO.
• Air Dolomiti announced the following executive changes will take place following the appointment of Steffen Harbarth as new CEO from 01-Jan-2022:
  • Captain Alberto Casamatti to relinquish role of interim CEO and resume the role of director general operations & accountable manager;
  • Ola Hansson to take the position of non-executive chairman. Mr Hansson is Lufthansa's COO & accountable manager.