Veteran travel agency executive Michael Premo late last month joined Airlines Reporting Corp. as vice president of sales and customer relations, managing the organization's relationship with travel agents, corporate travel departments and carriers.
In his new role, which began June 15, Premo said his focus will be to shed more light on ARC's data analytics and product and service offerings.
"People tend to think of ARC as a fairly traditional, even stodgy paper-oriented business, but I find it to be quite dynamic and high-tech," Premo said, adding that ARC has a range of initiatives underway. "Our top priority is always responding to industry events, and certainly the GDS pricing model changes that seem to be in progress right now may result in a role for ARC," he said. "It looks like we may end up playing some kind of a role in airline-agency-GDS pricing issues. That's definitely something that's active right now. As those negotiations come to completion, the new models become clearer."
Premo was the longtime president of SatoTravel, which Navigant acquired years before it became part of TQ3. Sato was an airline-owned entity, like ARC. Prior to Sato, Premo worked for Gelco Travel Management in operations. His first job in the industry was with Northwest Airlines as a reservations agent.
At TQ3, Premo served as senior vice president for Latin America, before moving to the position of global network senior vice president of Navigant International's new network, following TQ3's split from Business Travel International earlier this year
(BTN, Jan. 23). Carlson Wagonlit Travel in May acquired Navigant at the same time its 50 percent shareholder, Accor, announced it was selling its stake to Carlson Cos. and private investor One Equity Partners
(BTN, May 1).Given the acquisition, Premo said it was the right time to make a move. "It seemed like a good time to take a look around at the industry," he said. "Having worked for an airline-owned company in the past, it was natural to make contact with ARC. David Collins had an opening and my background seemed to fit his needs."
ARC president and CEO David Collins said Premo brings a wealth of experience to the organization. "I'm very pleased to see Michael Premo take on this leadership position at ARC," Collins said in a statement. "Mike's extensive industry experience fits well with ARC's exciting new directions with innovative products and services."