Gilliland Takes Over At Sabre

Sam Gilliland is taking over for the departing Bill Hannigan as Sabre Holdings president and CEO, and Michelle Peluso is replacing Gilliland as president and CEO of Travelocity. Gilliland also was elected to Sabre's board of directors, which will be chaired by Paul Ely, a board member since 1997.

Since joining Sabre in 1988 as a software developer, the fast-rising Gilliland has been Sabre's chief marketing officer, Airline Solutions group president and senior vice president and general manager of product marketing. He is best known in corporate travel circles as the early leader of Sabre's Business Travel Solutions.

"Corporate travel is not an easy business," Gilliland said last month at the PhoCusWright Executive Conference. "The various corporations and their procurement teams are sharp and demanding. It's not just about the first sale or signing the agreement, it's also about getting them to actually implement and use the tool, and that's something we've learned a lot about over time. There is a view that online corporate will accelerate very quickly, and I believe that, but I also think there's a lot of work to be done to get to the point where the tools are accommodating of all the needs, particularly of the Fortune 200."

"Sam brings to the post deep experience, tremendous management skills and the vision to leverage a unique portfolio of businesses in the highly dynamic travel industry," according to Ely. "We expect this to be a smooth transition."

Formerly CEO of Site59, which was acquired by Travelocity in March 2002, Peluso most recently was Travelocity COO and in the past was a consultant at the Boston Consulting Group, a White House Fellow and senior advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Labor. Travelocity Business president Ellen Keszler reports to Peluso. Hannigan joined AT&T as president.