AIRLINES
Lynden Air Cargo, a cargo airline based in Alaska, promoted Richard Zerkel to president. Zerkel succeeds retiring president Judy McKenzie. Zerkel began his career with Lynden Air Cargo in 1999 as a first officer on the company’s Hercules aircraft. He was promoted to captain and then director of operations in 2008. He most recently was vice president of operations. Before joining Lynden Air Cargo, Zerkel held management positions at various airlines in Alaska. He is a member of the executive council of the National Air Carriers Association.
Dane Kondic has been appointed CEO of Air Serbia, the airline formerly known as JatAirways. Kondic has more than 20 years of experience in the travel industry. He holds dual Australian and Serbian citizenship and speaks Serbian. Kondic has gained his experience in roles across the aviation industry, including positions at Malaysia Airlines and Qantas. Between August 2012 and August 2013, Kondic held the position of Sabre Airline Solutions’ regional director for Southeast Asia. Prior to that, he was vice president commercial at Abacus International in Asia. He has also worked for Travelport and Kuoni Travel China Ltd.
Etihad Airways appointed Yahya Ahmed Hussein Al-Robaydi as the airline’s general manager in Yemen. Al-Robaydi will be responsible for driving commercial results and developing relationships with the travel trade and the corporate customer segment in the country. Etihad recently announced the launch of four direct flights per week to Sana’a, Yemen’s political and commercial capital.
Delta Air Lines named energy industry veteran Graeme Burnett as senior vice president, fuel optimization. Burnett will oversee all aspects of Delta’s fuel program, including maximizing the benefits of its Monroe Energy subsidiary, which owns the refinery in Trainer, Pa. Burnett also will serve as chair of the Monroe Energy board of directors. He has more than 30 years of experience in the energy industry. Prior to joining Delta, he spent nearly a decade at Total Petrochemicals working in Texas, Brussels, Seoul and Guangzhou, China. In 2012, Burnett was named the firm’s president and CEO of petrochemicals and refining for the U.S.
Denis Ilin has been appointed executive president of AirBridgeCargo Airlines, Russia’s largest international scheduled cargo airline. Ilin has worked for several years as head of aviation for Basic Element, a Russian financial and industrial company. He previously held several leadership roles in Volga-Dnepr Group, including manager of Volga-Dnepr UK and general director of AirBridgeCargo.
THIRD PARTIES
Agility, a global logistics provider, has appointed Thomas Blank as managing director of area Central Europe. He replaces Thomas Peikert, who left the company after 23 years. Blank is now responsible for identifying development opportunities in Germany, Benelux and Poland. In recent years, he has held various senior management positions for logistics companies such Panalpina and UTi. Blank most recently worked at Geodis Wilson as VP & managing director Asia Pacific. After eight years in Asia, Blank is now returning to Germany.
Swissport International, a provider of ground services to the aviation sector, has appointed Stan Livingston as senior vice president global key account management ground handling. He brings more than 25 years of experience in the aviation industry to the role. Livingston joined Swissport in 2008 as president of fueling. He has worked for Air BP and Delta Air Lines.
Chris Scott joined South Florida Logistics Services as president and CEO. Scott, who has nearly 30 years of strategic supply chain management experience, has served in a variety of senior executive leadership positions at Bi-Lo/Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. He most recently served as senior vice president of supply chain & logistics, where he was responsible for the company’s entire supply chain. Prior to joining Winn Dixie, Scott worked at Marriott Distribution Services and Pepsico.
ATC Aviation, a cargo GSA, announced Dagmar Hanau and Paul Breburda were promoted in its Frankfurt office. Hanau, previously marketing executive, was promoted to group marketing manager. She joined the company in 2010. In his new role as group commercial manager, Breburda is in charge of the global project strategies. He joined ATC in 2007.
Geodis Wilson appointed Michael Greco as managing director for the
global freight forwarding division of the Geodis Group in the U.S. market. Greco has more than 17 years of experience within the international freight forwarding and logistics industry, most recently as business unit manager and vice president for Panalpina, New York. Rene Bach-Larsen has become cluster managing director of Singapore and South East Asia. Bach-Larsen joined Geodis Calberson Denmark in 1995 prior to assuming the role of managing director of Geodis Wilson Indonesia in 2003, where he was instrumental in establishing a strong business presence. He then held the post of overseas director (UK) from 2006 to 2007 before moving to merger director for Geodis Wilson’s acquisition and integration activities. He most recently was managing director for Geodis in India. Leif Voelcker replaces Bach-Larsen as managing director of Geodis India. Within the next five years, Geodis aims to double its size in India. Voelcker has more than 21 years of experience in freight forwarding. He started his career in 1992 in Germany and later on he joined Rohde & Liesenfeld in 2003 as managing director Colombia before the company was acquired by Geodis Wilson in 2007.
C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. promoted Gary York to director of sourcing, Europe. In this newly created position, York will establish the overall team and resources that will facilitate the development of perishables sourcing in Europe. York started his career with C.H. Robinson in the New York office in 1992. Previously, York was general manager of the sourcing and transportation business for FoodSource, a C.H. Robinson company, transportation manager for FoodSource and transportation manager of the C.H. Robinson Northeast Sourcing team.
Grahame Chilton has become non-executive director of Air Partner, an aviation charter services provider. Chilton has had a successful business career of more than 30 years. He was part of the management team that led the management buyout of Benfield, a reinsurance broker, in 1988 and became CEO of Benfield Group in 1996. The Benfield Group was acquired by Aon in August 2008, at which point Grahame became vice chairman of Aon Corporation, a global provider of risk management, insurance and reinsurance brokerage. Following his retirement from Aon’s executive committee in February 2012, Grahame became non-executive chairman of Aon Holdings Limited, a position he continues to hold.
Allan Dunne joined Cardiff Aviation, the South-Wales-based aircraft maintenance and flight training company, as head of flight training. Dunne previously worked at Flight Training Europe. His appointment follows Cardiff Aviation’s acquisition of European Skybus flight training, which will be renamed Cardiff Aviation Training. Dunne is a career pilot, having flown as captain and first officer on aircraft ranging from BAC 1-11s to Boeing 757s. He has been involved in flight and pilot training since the mid-1990s. Cardiff Aviation was launched in mid-2012 by Iron Maiden vocalist and aviation entrepreneur Bruce Dickinson and Mario Fulgoni, an aviation chief executive and former airline captain.
Christine M. Owens, who rose from a part-time position to become a top UPS executive, will retire after 33 years with the company. Owens was the first female region president, a key operational position. Under her leadership, UPS developed its first global communications platform, “We Love Logistics.” Prior to taking her current role in 2005, Owens spent 25 years in UPS operations, where she was responsible for some of the company’s largest business divisions, including serving as president of UPS’s West and Southeast regions. She also served as corporate vice president of transportation. Teri P. McClure, the company’s chief legal and compliance officer, will assume the additional responsibility for global communications and brand management at UPS.
John Boyd has become general airfreight manager at logistics provider Hellmann Worldwide Logistics UK. Boyd will be responsible for product strategy, business development and commercial responsibilities in the sector. He has worked at DHL for seven years and has experience in airfreight.