Swissair, Sabena CEOs Leave Posts
<B>Swissair, Sabena CEOs Leave Posts</B>
Swissair and Sabena, both part of SAirGroup, last week announced the departures of their respective CEOs. Jeffrey Katz, Swissair's president and CEO, is returning to the United States to head Orbitz, the travel booking Web site founded by American, Continental, Delta, Northwest and United. Philippe Bruggisser, CEO of SAirGroup, will lead Swissair in the interim until a permanent replacement is named.
Meanwhile, effective Aug. 1, Christoph Müeller will take Sabena's reins as president and CEO of Sabena Group. Müeller has been serving as the Belgian carrier's COO since December.
Müeller, who held several positions at Lufthansa before joining Sabena, also will serve as chairman for Delta Air Transport, charter carrier Sobleair and Sabena Technics, all subsidiaries of Sabena Group. He is replacing Paul Reutlinger, who on Aug. 1 will move to Paris to oversee the merger of AOM, Air Littoral and Air Liberté, three regional carriers all controlled by SAirGroup. A newly merged French carrier will have to compete successfully with Air France to reach profitability. Reutlinger also was named vice chairman of the Sabena board. Reutlinger, who has been in Sabena's top post since 1996, is credited with reviving the carrier, though last year's financial turbulence resulted in a net loss in excess of $50 million.
SAirGroup said Bruggisser, Reutlinger and Müeller would share the commercial functions of Airline Management Partnership, the combined entity of Swissair and Sabena (BTN, Sept. 6, 1999). Bruggisser's tenure as SAirGroup chief has focused "90 percent" on the airline business, which includes the partner airlines and other smaller regional carriers.
Orbitz, meanwhile, cited Katz's expertise in electronic res systems technology. Indeed, his tenure as the first foreign-born leader of Swissair resulted in the introduction of e-ticketing and advancing smart card and wireless application protocol technologies. Katz also is credited with revamping the inflight product and, more recently, forging a transatlantic codeshare alliance with American Airlines.
Before joining Swissair in 1997, Katz held top posts at American and Sabre. In a statement, he said it was "the right time" for his departure and that Swissair "is well prepared for the consolidation phase that now is underway in the European transport sector.