Americas appointment highlights of the month – December 2018

13 January, 2019

The travel, tourism and aviation industries in the Americas 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 Americas market, while also looking forward to key appointments announced for the last month.

Here are the key executive changes for December 2018:

  • Tulsa International Airport appointed Alexis Higgins as COO and interim CEO following the resignation of Mark VanLoh in Nov-2018.
  • FedEx appointed EVP, chief marketing and communications officer Raj Subramaniam as FedEx Express president and CEO, effective 01-Jan-2019. Mr Subramaniam succeeded David L Cunningham, who retired on 31-Dec-2018.
  • Spirit Airlines appointed CFO Edward Morgan Christie as CEO effective 01-Jan-2019, succeeding Bob Farnaro.
  • Lockheed Martin appointed Paul Colonna as president and chief investment officer (CIO), effective 07-Jan-2019.
  • Air Canada appointed Michael Rousseau as deputy CEO and CFO and Craig Landry as EVP of operations, effective 01-Jan-2019.
  • MAG USA announced the following appointments:
    • Rosemarie Andolino appointed MAG USA chairman and Manchester Airport Group CEO of international development;
    • Martin Jones appointed MAG USA CEO and president.
  • Enerjet appointed Tim Morgan as CEO. Mr Morgan previously served as WestJet director and COO, and is the co founder of WestJet.
  • Paradies Lagardère appointed Rick Walters as EVP and Group CFO.
  • ManaAir announced it will appoint Subodh Karnik as ExpressJet Airlines president and CEO once the acquisition of ExpressJet is complete. ManaAir, a JV between United Airlines & KAir Enterprises, and SkyWest Inc entered a USD70 million definitive agreement for ManaAir to acquire ExpressJet Airlines. Subject to approval, the agreement is expected to completed in early 2019.
  • California Pacific Airlines (CP Air) appointed Jack L Hareland as CEO, replacing chairman Ted Vallas who served as acting CEO since 01-Nov-2018
  • US House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in the 116th Congress appointed Peter DeFazio as chairman.
  • Jetlines appointed Jordi Porcel as chief sales, marketing and customer experience officer.
  • AerSale promoted Basil Barimo from COO to CEO and Craig Wright from chief commercial officer to president.
  • Volaris appointed Sonia Jerez Burdeus as CFO effective 07-Jan-2019.