Orbitz Boosts Mgmt. W/ Biz Appointment

The airline-owned Orbitz Web site is planning its first major effort in managed business travel with the help of former American Airlines corporate product specialist Rick Weber. Hired in April as Orbitz vice president of business travel services, Weber's career for a few years has had him following the footsteps of Orbitz chairman, president and CEO Jeff Katz, according to Orbitz's May 20 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering.

Weber's 10-year career at AA, in which he served in a variety of sales and international management positions, overlapped Katz's own 17-year stint. Between September 1996 and April 1998, Weber was AA's managing director of corporate products, after which he joined Swissair as vice president of electronic commerce and marketing IT. Katz had left his post as president of Sabre, then owned by AA, to join Swissair a year earlier. Katz took over Orbitz in July 2000, while Weber remained at Swissair until November of last year.

Prior to joining Orbitz, "Weber was a private consultant for a global travel distribution company from December 2001 until February 2002," Orbitz stated. The Chicago-based company cited the IPO-related quiet period imposed by SEC in not making Weber available for an interview. Weber, who earlier in his career was director of marketing for a German tour operator, received a bachelor of sciences degree in business administration from the University of Virginia in 1980.

Also in its registration statement, Orbitz revealed details on employee agreements with top executives. Katz's agreement, in effect for three years from July 2000, pays him $500,000 annually, plus performance bonuses of up to 200 percent of salary and stock options. CFO John Park is paid $300,000 annually, plus bonuses and shares, as is Orbitz's first senior executive and chief technology officer Alex Zoghlin.

According to Orbitz, "All full-time employees have ownership interests in Orbitz, with outstanding employee stock options representing approximately 14 percent of Orbitz prior to this offering."

Orbitz's board of directors includes airline executives Michael Gunn and Thomas Horton of AA, Continental Airlines' Bill Brunger and Larry Kellner, Delta Air Lines' Michele Burns and Vince Caminiti, Northwest Airlines' J. Timothy Griffin and Al Lenza and United Airlines' Chris Bowers and Doug Hacker. Some of these directors plan to leave the board after the IPO.

Corporate travel manager Michael Hall of Johnson Controls in Milwaukee serves on Orbitz's consumer advisory board.