Changing Of The Guard At Star Alliance

Star Alliance, the airline network for Earth, has a new Chief Executive Officer. Today William L. Meaney officially took over the helm from Friedel Rödig, who has served as the first CEO of the alliance and now retires.

The changing of the guard took place at a regular meeting of the Star Alliance Management Board in Bangkok, Thailand.

William Meaney joined Star Alliance from South African Airways where he has held a number of senior executive positions - the most recent one being Executive Vice President in charge of alliances, network management and global sales at the Johannesburg-based carrier.

Prior to his career at SAA he was the CEO of a pharmaceutical company in South Africa. He has also served in senior positions at several international management consultant firms and spent two years with the U.S. Air Force as a manager for special projects. William Meaney is a licensed commercial pilot.

Friedel Rödig played a key role in establishing Star Alliance in 1997. At that time he was Executive Vice President, Alliances, at Lufthansa German Airlines which he joined in 1966.

His career at Lufthansa has spanned areas such as fleet and route planning, distribution systems and passenger services. From 1994 to 1996, Friedel Rödig was Chief Marketing Officer of the German carrier.

In 1998 he assumed the position of Chairman of the Star Alliance Management Board and one year later was asked to serve as the first CEO of the global airline partnership, which now counts 13 members and 15 brands.

Singapore Airlines joined Star Alliance in April 2000. Partners are Air Canada, Air New Zealand, All Nippon Airways (ANA), Ansett Australia, Austrian Airlines, British Midland Airways, Lauda Air, Lufthansa German Airlines, Mexicana Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), Thai Airways International, Tyrolean Airways, United Airlines and VARIG Brazilian Airlines. The alliance offers customers seamless travel to over 815 destinations in more than 130 countries.