In Brief
Continental has added chief operating officer responsibilities to president Jeff Smisek, with chief executive Larry Kellner assuming responsibility for marketing and technology. Current executive vice-president operations Mark Moran will report to Smisek, who keeps all of his other portfolios. The widening of Smisek's role will be seen as another pointer towards his being the natural successor to Kellner.
Aer Lingus has named Colm Barrington as its new chairman, succeeding John Sharman. He is chief of Irish-based leasing operation Babcock and Brown Air, and previously held several executive management positions at GPA Group. He will step down from his position as a non-executive director of Dublin Airport Authority.
JetBlue Airways has named airline veteran Mike Barger as senior vice-president fleet operations, in a newly created role reporting to chief operating officer Russ Chew. The carrier has also named Terry Dinterman in the new vice-president technology services role to oversee IT security, compliance and architecture.
As Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines await merger approval from regulators, Delta has tasked Jeff Robertson with preparing to unify the carriers' frequent flyer programs. As Delta vice-president loyalty programs, Robertson will co-lead efforts toward combining Northwest WorldPerks and Delta SkyMiles.
Asia
Storrie replaces Gregg at Qantas
Peter Gregg has resigned as chief financial officer and a board member of Qantas Airways. He will help with management transition until year's end, but Colin Storrie replaced him at the end of September.
Gregg, 53, concluded that chief executive-designate Alan Joyce should have the benefit of dealing with someone new. "With a new incoming CEO, I believe that signalling now my intention to step down from both my executive and non-executive roles is in the best interests of shareholders and the company," he says.
This is characteristic of Gregg, who was widely respected for his considerate manner during the eight years he was a senior Qantas official. During that time he played key roles in the airline's fleet and Asian strategy.
Storrie, 39, has a decade of financial experience with Qantas, five of them as deputy chief financial officer. He has been on the Qantas executive committee the past three years.
Ashby takes his exit from india's Indigo
Indian low-cost carrier Indigo Airlines has named Aditya Ghosh as president to fill one of the roles held by president and chief executive Bruce Ashby, who will be leaving before the end of the year.
Ashby, a former US Airways executive, has been with Indigo since around a year before its launch in August 2006. He says he agreed when he joined to complete his full three-year contract and decided not to extend, apart from for a few months to assist with the transition to a new leadership team.
Ghosh is an Indigo board member and general counsel for parent company Interglobe Enterprises. He will be taking over as president although a chief executive has yet to be named.
Indigo has grown progressively since its launch in August 2006 and it now has 19 Airbus A320-family aircraft.
Great Wall appoints new head
Great Wall Airlines, the associated freight carrier of Singapore Airlines in China, has appointed Kuah Boon Kiam as its new president. The SIA Cargo executive will take over in October from Tan Kaiping.
SIA and its parent Temasek own a minority stake in the Shanghai-based international freight airline, while the majority stake is held by Beijing Aerospace Satellite Applications. It operates three Boeing 747-400 freighters.
Europe
Sterling changes chief again
After just five months at the helm, Reza Taleghani, the chief executive officer of Danish carrier Sterling, is being replaced by his predecessor Almar Orn Hilmarsson.
Sterling has given few reasons for the decision, saying only that the surprise switch is connected with a change in the ownership of the carrier. Investor Palmi Haraldsson has taken full control of Sterling's owner, Northern Travel Holding, and is now the sole shareholder. "[Haraldsson] will, from now on, concentrate his activities in the travel and aviation industry, and has plans of bringing in a substantial amount of new capital," says the airline.
Sterling says that former JP Morgan executive Taleghani will "step back" and "leave the chair" to Hilmarsson, who ran the airline from mid-2005.
Americas
New heads at Cayman Airways
Small caribbean carrier Cayman Airways has appointed Gilles Filiatreault as its acting chief executive in a transition role as he oversees the succession of the airline's Captain Olson Anderson to the position. Anderson, who is vice-president flight operations, has been named chief executive designate.
Canadian Filiatreault has worked with Air Canada and also has experience in the Caribbean region, holding senior posts in Caribbean airlines. He joins Cayman from his post as chief executive of TACV in the Cape Verde Islands.
The airline's chief Patrick Strasburger resigned in July citing personal reasons.
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Source: Airline Business
