Travelport is restructuring its Airline IT
Solutions (AITS) and realigning the operating structure of its
Commercial GDS function. Travelports Commercial teams in both its
GDS and AITS divisions will be integrated under Kurt Ekert, Chief
Commercial Officer.
AITS provides hosting and/or IT software
services to leading global airlines such as Delta, United
Airlines, Emirates and Air New Zealand, as well as to other
providers of airline IT such as TravelSky of China and SITA, and
was previously led by Sue Powers. Powers has decided to retire,
having spent over 30 years working in the industry for a number of
organisations including United Airlines, Covia (Apollo), Worldspan
and Travelport.
Former Hewlett Packard
executive, Derek Sharp, will lead Travelports AITS commercial
team in the new structure. Sharp recently joined the company from
HP where he held a number of senior strategy, account management
and commercial roles. He also has extensive experience in the
travel and transportation sector from his work at EDS prior to its
acquisition by HP.
All IT application development
will be integrated under the leadership of Chief Information
Officer, Mark Ryan, supporting Travelports commitment to ongoing
modernisation of its technology environment and delivery of next generation travel transaction processing
systems and an industry-leading airline IT suite.
Earlier in the
year, Travelport announced a significant multi-million dollar (US)
investment in next generation software, and an upgrade to the IBM
z/Transaction Processing Facility (zTPF), enabling it to more than
double the information it processes in 160 countries and providing
one of the most stable and secure technology environments in the
travel industry.
Within the Travelport Commercial
team specialised in GDS sales and services, the following changes
have also been confirmed:
- Bryan Conway will head
up the companys global commercial operations function; - Rabih
Saab is appointed President and Managing Director for the Middle
East and Africa; - Jason Clarke is appointed President and
Managing Director for Europe; -Jon Hall is appointed to the
position of President, Corporate Sales.
Bryan
Conway, currently President and Managing Director, Middle East and
Africa, and one of Travelports most experienced leaders,
will become Senior Vice President, Global Commercial Operations.
In this role, he will assume primary ownership for the deployment
of Travelports new products - Travelport
Universal Desktop, Travelport e-Pricing and Travelport Universal
API - as well as taking global responsibility for customer
service and support. He will also own Travelports global strategy
for airlines and other customers for whom Travelport provides
vital global distribution services.
As a result of
this appointment, Rabih Saab, who has recently led the successful
set up of Travelports new direct operations in the Middle East,
has been appointed President and Managing Director for the MEA
region.
Jason Clarke, currently heading up global
operations, has been appointed President and Managing Director for
Europe, replacing Olaf Gueldner who has decided to leave
Travelport. Clarke has broad experience in customer service and
support gained through his most recent position as well as other
high profile roles within the business, including running the
companys operations in the UK and Ireland, Spain, Benelux and
France.
Jon Hall, who joined Travelport in March
2008, has been appointed President, Corporate Sales. He will lead
the Travelport team which engages directly with corporate travel
buyers for on-line corporate booking tools such as Traversa, and
other software and services developed for the corporate travel
sector and provided through Travelports third party technology
partnerships.
Sharp, Conway, Saab, Clarke and Hall
will all report into Chief Commercial Officer, Kurt Ekert,
alongside Travis Christ who runs Travelports Americas region,
Simon Nowroz who runs the Asia Pacific region, Sandra McLeod who
leads Global Travel Management Accounts and Niklas Andren, who
was recently appointed to the post of Group Vice President
Hospitality and Partner Marketing.
These changes enable an even tighter alignment of Travelport
around the commercial objectives of our customers. They will also
better enable Travelport to commence the large scale introduction
of its new products, in which we have made considerable investment
this year, such as the Travelport Universal Desktop, Travelport
Universal API and Travelport e-Pricing. Our airline IT customers
are also now able to take advantage of a more holistic offering as
we leverage our recent IT investments, said Gordon Wilson, Deputy
Group CEO of Travelport. On both a
personal and professional level, I would like to thank Sue and
Olaf for their notable contribution and commitment to our
business. Sue specifically for her role in growing our AITS
business, and, prior to that, operating as CIO for Travelport and
Olaf for his contribution to our market leading position in many
European countries. I wish Sue the very best for a long and
healthy retirement and Olaf every success in his future career.
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