Posada takes control
Juan Emilio Posada has replaced Vytis Didziulis as Avianca's president and legal representative to the Summa alliance. Didziulis had been Avianca's president for two years, but decided to leave after renegotiating aircraft leases for the company's US unit, which is restructuring under US Chapter 11.
Posada was already head of the group that manages Summa. Becoming president puts him in on the front line in Avianca's reorganisation. The company's shareholders, which approved Posada's selection - Grupo Bavaria (Santo Domingo) and Colombia's Coffee Federation - also agreed to expand the airline's board from three to four directors - two for each shareholder. These moves are seen as preparation for completing Avianca's reorganisation.
As part of this management shuffle, Rodrigo Toro has resigned as Summa's vice-president for marketing and sales. He will stay on as a consultant for some time. Toro held that same position at Aces for five years before moving over to Summa.
Toro has been replaced by Mauricio Leyva Arboleda, who comes from a marketing and sales post at Comcel, a telecommunications firm. Before that he was a consultant with McKinsey & Co in Dusseldorf, Germany.
DAVID KNIBB SEATTLE
Source: Airline Business
