ASPAC appointment wrap of the month – October 2017

1 November, 2017

The travel, tourism and aviation industries in the Asia Pacific 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.

Blue Swan 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 following month.

Here are the key executive changes for Oct-2017:

  • GE named Jamie Miller, currently CEO of GE Transportation, as CFO of GE effective 01-Nov-2017. Jeffrey S Bornstein, GE vice chair and CFO will leave the company at the end of 2017, after 28 years of service.
  • United Technologies Corp appointed Judy Marks as president of Otis.
  • Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) executive board extended the contract of Mario Hardy as CEO for a period of three years commencing 01-Jan-2018.
  • Air Seychelles CEO Roy Kinnear plans to resign, effective 31-Dec-2017.
  • Oman Air replaced CEO Paul Gregorowitsch with acting CEO Abdulaziz Saud AlRaisi.
  • Vistara formally replaces CEO Phee Teik Yeoh with new CEO Leslie Thng.
  • World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) appointed Christopher Nassetta, president and CEO of Hilton, as the next chairman. Mr Nassetta will take over from current chairman Gerald Lawless, following the Council's Annual General Meeting, which will take place in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 17-Apr-2018.
  • Malaysia Airlines CEO Peter Bellew will rejoin Ryanair as COO on 01-Dec-2017.
  • Malaysia Airlines appoints Izham Ismail as Executive Director & CEO designate. Mr Ismail will assume Group CEO position on 01-Dec-2017, replacing Peter Bellew who is on administrative leave before returing to Ryanair.
  • Auckland Airport GM aeronautical operations Judy Nicholl was replaced with acting GM aeronautical operations Anil Varma.
  • GA Telesis appointed Kevin Ford as director of business development for the Asia Pacific region.
  • Australia's Government appointed Karen Gosling to the International Air Services Commission (IASC) as a part time member. Ms Gosling will commence the new role on 01-Nov-2017.
  • Airports Council International announced the appointment of Airports Company South Africa CEO and executive director Bongani Maseko as chair of the ACI World Governing Board, taking over from London City Airports CEO Declan Collier. Corporación América CEO Martin Eurnekian was appointed as Vice Chair. Their roles will become effective as of 01-Jan-2018.
  • Queenstown Airport appointed Olivia Pierre as GM commercial and customer experience.
  • Queenstown Airport appointed Rachel Tregidga as GM property and planning.
  • Philippine Airlines appointed Jose E L Perez de Tagle as VP for corporate communication
  • Air Canada appointed Vic Naughton (formerly sales manager of American Airlines) as GM of Australia & New Zealand.
  • Korea Aerospace Industries Co (KAI) appointed Kim Jo-won as new CEO. Mr Kim previously worked at the Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea for 20 years, with his three year term as KIA CEO commencing on 26-Oct-2017.
  • TIACA appointed Jan de Rijk Logistics CEO Sebastiaan Scholte as chairman and Brussels Airport head of cargo and logistics Steven Polmans as vice chairman.
  • GE Australia announces Max York as new Australian CEO
  • CargoLogicAir appointed David Kerr as CEO, effective 01-Jan-2018. Mr Kerr is currently Etihad Cargo SVP.
  • Stellar Partners appointed Padraig Drennan as president and COO
  • VTB Leasing appointed Dmitry Ivanter to the position of director general, effective Jan-2018.
  • London City Airport appointed Robert Sinclair to the position of CEO, replacing Declan Collier, effective 30-Oct-2017. Mr Sinclair is currently CEO of Bristol Airport and was previously CFO of Auckland International Airport.
  • HK Express announced the appointment of Li Dianchun as president of HK Express, with immediate effect. Prior to joining HK Express, Mr Li was the CCO of Hong Kong Airlines.