New Airways Officers Announced

[etops1]

Today, America West Chairman, President and CEO Doug Parker and US Airways President and CEO Bruce Lakefield announced the officer team that will be recommended to the new airline’s board of directors. These officers would assume their new roles in the combined company at the merger’s close date, which is expected in late September.

Doug said, “We welcome these talented individuals to the new US Airways and we are confident that they have the right skills to navigate our merged company through the challenging transition. In addition, we are grateful for the efforts of both teams and to members of both teams who will not remain with the new airline. It took the entire officer teams of both airlines to make the initial discussion of a merger a reality and we appreciate the diligent efforts of those individuals.â€￾

Bruce added, “When Doug and I began discussing this merger, we set a goal to build the best team in the airline industry. This combination of leaders from US Airways and America West certainly accomplishes that goal. I add my deep appreciation to all of the officers who have worked tirelessly throughout our initial discussions and who will continue to do so until the merger is completed.â€￾

America West and US Airways currently have a combined 52 officer positions, including two positions that are responsible for the US Airways Express operations of PSA and Piedmont. There are 34 officers being named today for the new airline (including Doug Parker and his direct reports), which will result in a 35 percent reduction in overhead expenses. In addition, a few of the new positions are transition roles designed to integrate specific areas, which should phase out as the merger is completed.

Doug continued, “There is a lot of work to be accomplished over the next 18 months. We have to move to one operating certificate and create single systems for areas such as revenue management, revenue accounting and other technical functions. This work will require extraordinary efforts, and I am pleased we have put the right team in place to get that work accomplished.â€￾

Please welcome aboard the leadership team of the new US Airways.

Links to biographies of all individuals will be available soon, by clicking on the officer's name.

Administration
Led by Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer Jeff McClelland:

Derek Kerr, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
Reporting to Derek:
Mike Carreon, Vice President, Controller
Dion Flannery, Vice President, Financial Analysis
Kara Gin, Vice President, Financial Planning
Tom Weir, Vice President, Treasurer

Jim Walsh, Senior Vice President/General Counsel
Reporting to Jim:
Janet Dhillon, Vice President/Deputy General Counsel

John Hedblom, Vice President, Human Resources

Al Hemenway, Vice President, Labor Relations

Steve Farrow, President/CEO, Piedmont

Keith Houk, President/CEO, PSA

Marketing
Led by Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing Scott Kirby:

Joe Beery, Senior Vice President/CIO
Reporting to Joe:
Paul Lambert, Vice President, Facilities

Andrew Nocella, Senior Vice President, Scheduling, Planning and Alliances

Kerry Carstairs, Vice President, Reservations

Travis Christ, Vice President, Sales & Marketing

Randy Richards, Vice President, Cargo

Open, Vice President, Revenue Management

Operations
Led by Executive Vice President, Operations Al Crellin:

Ed Bular, Vice President, Flight Operations
Reporting to Ed:
Dave Seymour, Vice President, Operations Control and Planning
Joe Chronic, Vice President, Flight Operations Integration

Hal Heule, Senior Vice President, Safety & Regulatory Compliance

Anthony Mulé, Senior Vice President, Customer Service
Reporting to Anthony:
Ron Cole, Vice President, Inflight Services
Donna Paladini, Vice President, Customer Service West
Open, Vice President, Customer Service East

John Prestifilippo, Senior Vice President, Maintenance and Engineering
Reporting to John:
Rick Oehme, Vice President, Engineering & Quality

Public, Government, and Community Affairs
Led by Senior Vice President, Public Affairs C.A. Howlett:

Rosemary Murray, Vice President, Government Affairs

Corporate Communications
Led by Vice President, Corporate Communications Elise Eberwein:

Larry LeSueur, Vice President, Culture Integration

 

[hharotz]

Al Hemenway, Vice President, Labor Relations

Kerry Carstairs, Vice President, Reservations

Executive Vice President, Operations Al Crellin:

Donna Paladini, Vice President, Customer Service West

Open, Vice President, Customer Service East

[post="288791"][/post]​

:censored:

:down: :down: :down:

:unsure:

:angry:

What, no one wants to deal with PHL?! Wonder who will jump for the glamourous CS VP East position! I guess Donna shifted to CS West so that she can Crellinize HP's stations out west.

 

[Hope777]

I was surprised to see Keith Houk, President/CEO, PSA on the List.

I guess His StatesWest is all forgotten about in PHX.

Talk about a Major Failure.

 

[ringmaruf]

Well, I count 12 officers from US.

I approve of Andrew Nocella. I can't say I know anything at all about Rosemary Murray, but we'll give her the benefit of the doubt. That's 2 out of 12 that I'm happy about. Not a good ratio. Not when there are several other execs that I would've approved of (Schear, Leo, Beier, Lanier).

Derek Kerr, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
Reporting to Derek:
Mike Carreon, Vice President, Controller
Dion Flannery, Vice President, Financial Analysis
Kara Gin, Vice President, Financial Planning
Tom Weir, Vice President, Treasurer

[post="288791"][/post]​

This surprises me. I'd think they'd need at least somebody from the US side who knows the US finances, at least in the beginning. I guess Anita Beier isn't staying past the transition period?

Janet Dhillon, Vice President/Deputy General Counsel

[post="288791"][/post]​

Is Brian Foont not coming over to the combined carrier? I thought he was above Dhillon in the pecking order.

Marketing
Led by Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing Scott Kirby:
Joe Beery, Senior Vice President/CIO
Reporting to Joe:
Paul Lambert, Vice President, Facilities
Andrew Nocella, Senior Vice President, Scheduling, Planning and Alliances
Kerry Carstairs, Vice President, Reservations
Travis Christ, Vice President, Sales & Marketing
Randy Richards, Vice President, Cargo
Open, Vice President, Revenue Management

[post="288791"][/post]​

So they got rid of Doug Leo's position? That's a shame; he was good at his job, *and* one of the good guys.

Sigh...wouldn't be surprised to see him jump to Spirit to continue to step all over US's routes with BBB and BB. With all the retention bonuses at US, you think the idiots would think to put non-compete clauses in the contracts.

Kerry Carstairs, Vice President, Reservations

[post="288791"][/post]​

This does not bode well for the outsourcing. :down:

The only silver lining I can see is that she's been demoted to VP-Res from VP-Direct Distribution, implying that she's no longer in charge of usairways.com, so hopefully someone from HP will take care of that now.

Ed Bular, Vice President, Flight Operations

[post="288791"][/post]​

Now I know what the opinions of Al, Donna, Sherry, Kerry, and friends are, but I don't hear much about Bular. He did show up at the PHL Christmas party, which is more than I can say about Carstairs or Prestifilippo or the freaking EVP-Operations. What do the pilots think of him?

Hal Heule, Senior Vice President, Safety & Regulatory Compliance

[post="288791"][/post]​

So no Jim Schear? Can't say I blame him for running if they won't can Crellin.

Ron Cole, Vice President, Inflight Services

[post="288791"][/post]​

Well, Sherry's gone. One down, four to go.

Donna Paladini, Vice President, Customer Service West
Open, Vice President, Customer Service East

[post="288791"][/post]​

This is just brilliant. Donna is so incompetent in the East, where she's ostensibly familiar with the operation, that they give her a whole new side of the country to ruin. :down:

 

[desertgal]

I really like Ron Cole.

 

[700UW]

Heaven help US, Hemenway and Presti.

That just sucks and does not bode well for employees.

 

[ringmaruf]

I really like Ron Cole.

[post="288826"][/post]​

That's good to know.

(In fact, a lot of us people from the US side of things (employees, pax, whatever) know the US execs but not the HP execs. I, for one, would really welcome comments on the HP people from HP employees.)

 

[Finish or Ignore]

At least it will be balanced..Al and Donna will knock morale down on the west coast to match the east coast.

 

[barbeetantrums]

That's good to know.

(In fact, a lot of us people from the US side of things (employees, pax, whatever) know the US execs but not the HP execs. I, for one, would really welcome comments on the HP people from HP employees.)

[post="288829"][/post]​

Larry LeSueur, Vice President, Culture Integration . Currently VP Phoenix Hub. Real nice guy and refuses to swear. Mormon, I believe. Very religious. Easily moved to tears and wears his heart on his sleeve. Very personable. He may have said "crap" once, it is rumored. Wears an Easter bunny suit for the holiday and hands out candy. May be wrong but I believe he started as a ramper.

 

[chele5]

Kerry Carstairs, Vice President, Reservations

This appointment surprised me. I didn't think HP would want to keep anyone from CCY. Did HP forget to make any test calls to res before this?
Does anyone have a clue as to how bad things really are in res? guess not.
Customer service is not what it should be and certainly not what it once was.

 

[barbeetantrums]

Larry LeSueur, Vice President, Culture Integration . Currently VP Phoenix Hub. Real nice guy and refuses to swear. Mormon, I believe. Very religious. Easily moved to tears and wears his heart on his sleeve. Very personable. He may have said "crap" once, it is rumored. Wears an Easter bunny suit for the holiday and hands out candy. May be wrong but I believe he started as a ramper.

[post="288840"][/post]​

LARRY LESUEUR
Vice President, PHX Hub
Larry LeSueur was named vice president, PHX Hub on March 1, 2002. In this capacity, his responsibilities include overseeing passenger services, fleet services, cargo, administration, and operations at the PHX Hub. He has served at the Hub since February 1, 2000.

From 1998 to 2000, LeSueur served as senior director of reservations, overseeing all reservation activities for three call centers.

From 1996 to 1998, LeSueur served as general manager, then director of Phoenix reservations. He was responsible for general and international sales, quality management, travel agency support, Flightfund, and group sales. In 1998, LeSueur was chairman of the company-wide United Way campaign

From 1989 to1996, LeSueur held several positions at America West Vacations. In addition, he served as manager of sales and customer service. In 1984, LeSueur joined America West as a part-time ramp agent.

LeSueur is on the Board of Directors for the America West Education Foundation.

LeSueur holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Arizona State University in Tempe, Ariz., which he earned while working at America West Airlines.

 

[ringmaruf]

Cool, sounds like we've got a few good HP execs here.

Currently VP Phoenix Hub. Real nice guy and refuses to swear. Mormon, I believe. Very religious. Easily moved to tears

[post="288840"][/post]​

The PHX hub? Now the PHL hub, there's a hub that'll move you to tears.

Wears an Easter bunny suit for the holiday

[post="288840"][/post]​

You should've seen what Siegel wore for Halloween!

From 1998 to 2000, LeSueur served as senior director of reservations, overseeing all reservation activities for three call centers.

[post="288842"][/post]​

Now *that* is interesting. Obviously, VP-Culture Integration is one of the temporary positions Parker talked about. Now when he's finished with that job, I'll bet he replaces Carstairs if res doesn't get fixed, and soon.

 

[barbeetantrums]

That's good to know.

(In fact, a lot of us people from the US side of things (employees, pax, whatever) know the US execs but not the HP execs. I, for one, would really welcome comments on the HP people from HP employees.)

[post="288829"][/post]​

Corporate Communications
Led by Vice President, Corporate Communications Elise Eberwein.

How well does she do her job? Heck if I know but two words describe this 40-something: YUM YUM! Oh, Yeah!!! What a hottie!!!
:wub:

ELISE EBERWEIN
Vice President, Corporate Communications
Elise Eberwein joined America West Airlines in September 2003 as vice president, corporate communications. In this capacity, she oversees the company's overall public relations efforts, including strategic communications planning, executive communications, media relations and employee communications.

Eberwein has more than 17 years combined airline experience, most recently with Denver-based Frontier Airlines where she spent five years leading that company's media relations, employee communications, customer relations, community relations and government affairs activities. She began her career as a flight attendant for TWA and spent 11 years serving in various capacities at that airline.

She holds an MBA from Colorado State University as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree in mass communications from Lindenwood College located in St. Charles Missouri.

 

[barbeetantrums]

That's good to know.

(In fact, a lot of us people from the US side of things (employees, pax, whatever) know the US execs but not the HP execs. I, for one, would really welcome comments on the HP people from HP employees.)

[post="288829"][/post]​

Randy Richards, Vice President, Cargo. Expect mail. Expect to be the leader in mail movement. mail mail mail... :blink:

 

[Light Years]

Larry LeSueur, Vice President, Culture Integration . Currently VP Phoenix Hub. Real nice guy and refuses to swear. Mormon, I believe. Very religious. Easily moved to tears and wears his heart on his sleeve. Very personable. He may have said "crap" once, it is rumored. Wears an Easter bunny suit for the holiday and hands out candy. May be wrong but I believe he started as a ramper.

[post="288840"][/post]​

This guys going to be in charge of "culture"?

That doesn't sound very promising. :unsure: