Americas appointment highlights of the month – October 2019

11 November, 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 October 2019;

  • American Airlines announced the following changes to its executive team, effective 10-Oct-2019:
    • SVP of customer experience Kerry Philipovitch to retire at the end of 2019;
    • SVP of marketing, loyalty and sales Kurt Stache appointed as SVP of customer experience;
    • VP of flight service Jill Surdek promoted to SVP of flight service;
    • SVP of integrated operations David Seymour appointed as SVP of operations;
    • SVP of international and cargo Jim Butler appointed as SVP of airport operations and cargo;
    • SVP of network strategy Devon May appointed as SVP of American Eagle and operations planning;
    • VP of network and schedule planning Vasu Raja promoted to SVP of network and strategy;
    • SVP of revenue management Don Casey appointed as SVP of revenue.
  • 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.
  • TAME announced it appointed Luis Miguel Reyes as GM.
  • UPS announced chief operating officer Jim Barber will retire at the end of Dec-2019.
  • Atlas Air Worldwide promoted James A Forbes to the position of EVP and COO, effective 01-Jan-2020. Mr Forbes will succeed John W Dietrich as COO, who will assume the role of CEO from 01-Jan-2020. Mr Forbes will also serve as COO for subsidiaries Atlas Air and Southern Air.
  • Jetlines reported CEO Javier Suarez tendered his resignation, effective 28-Oct-2019. The carrier will commence looking for a replacement CEO. Jetlines director Zygimantas Surinta also tendered his resignation.
  • Viva Air Peru CEO Eduardo Fairen Soria announced plans to step down from his current role as Viva Peru CEO effective by the end of 2019.
  • Southwest Airlines appointed Whitney Eichinger as MD of culture and engagement effective 05-Nov-2019.
  • ExpressJet Airlines appointed Kevin Langford as VP of human resources, effective 06-Nov-2019.
  • Wingo announced the appointment of Carolina E Cortizo Colón as managing director on 06-Nov-2019.
  • Embraer announced its board elected Antonio Carlos Garcia as CFO and investor relations officer, succeeding Nelson Krahenbuhl Salgado, who will serve as chief operations officer. The executive changes are effective 01-Jan-2020.
  • Grupo Viva announced the appointment of Stephen Rapp as Viva Air Perú CEO on 07-Nov-2019.
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