Bangkok--Dec 9--Star Alliance
The six member airlines of Star Alliance today announced that they have created a focused management team to implement the five-year business plan approved by the airlines’ presidents at their recent meeting in Rio de Janeiro. The presidents of the airlines see today’s move as a natural evolution of the process that began on May 14, 1997, when Star Alliance was founded, and one designed to meet head-on the next phase of airline competition.
The Alliance, which comprises some of the world’s most renowned air carriers, will now be lead on a day-to-day basis by a core group of executives, who were hand picked by the airline presidents. The newly formed Alliance Management Board, which held its first meeting last week in Chicago, will be chaired by Friedel Roedig of Lufthansa. The deputy chair will be Bruce Harris of United Airlines. [Biographic profiles are attached.
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The other core members of the management board are key individuals who will be responsible for specific areas of strategic importance to Star Alliance. These are the areas which are of the most importance to the travelling public. Ross MacCormack of Air Canada will be responsible for development of the Global Network, including regulatory issues. Per Stendebakken of SAS - Scandinavian Airlines will be responsible for ensuring Seamless Service and Product Development. Bruce Parker of United will be responsible for all issues related to Information Technology and Automation. The executive responsible for sales strategy, marketing communications and the coordination of frequent flyer programs will be announced in the near future.
“Bringing together airline organizations that span the globe is very complex,” said Mr. Roedig. “Over the past two years, numerous working groups with representation from each of the Star Alliance members have worked closely together to set up the world’s most comprehensive and customer-oriented airline network. They spent their time to define the issues and develop ways to tackle them. Now that this groundwork is in place and customers are known to appreciate the benefits of Star Alliance, the time of the purely committee-based organization is over. We are ready to accelerate the process. We are clearly ahead of the competition, and we intend to maintain that lead.”
Star Alliance currently comprises Air Canada, Lufthansa German Airlines, SAS - Scandinavian Airlines, Thai Airways International, United Airlines and VARIG Brazilian Airlines. Air New Zealand, Ansett Australia and Japan’s All Nippon Airways have announced plans to join Star Alliance next year, and today have “observer” status with the organization.
Friedel Roedig, 56, is Executive Vice President, Alliances, for the Lufthansa Group, a position to which he was appointed on January 1, 1996. Mr. Roedig joined Lufthansa in 1966 and has held a variety of positions both on the operations side of the airline, and in the corporate head office. Prior to his most recent assignment, he was Chief Operating Officer of Lufthansa’s Passenger Division.
Bruce Harris, 53, is Director, Alliances, for United Airlines. Mr. Harris was responsible for creating and developing United’s alliance strategy and was named to his current position in 1996. An employee of the airline for 32 years, Mr. Harris has worked in a variety of customer-focused positions, including sales and marketing.
G. Ross MacCormack, 56 , is Vice President, Corporate Strategy, for Air Canada. He was appointed to this position in 1993, and was formerly Vice-President, Market Development, responsible for developing and introducing new products and services. Currently Mr. MacCormack Air Canada’s strategic development, the airline’s regional carrier activities and it’s international affairs including the alliance network development. He has been with Air Canada since 1971.
Per Stendebakken, 55, is Area Manager, Europe West, for SAS - Scandinavian Airlines, a role he has filled since 1992. He has also held a variety of posts at SAS’s corporate offices, and spent seven years in London in passenger sales. A Norwegian, Mr. Stendebakken joined SAS in Oslo in 1970.
Bruce D. Parker, 51, is Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer for United Airlines. Mr. Parker held senior IT positions at Ryder Systems and American Airlines, before joining United in 1997. End