Effective Oct. 15, Richard Crum will leave his post as president and chairman of corporate payment system Universal Air Travel Plan to take the helm of the U.S. division of Lufthansa-owned AirPlus International.
AirPlus is UATP's "largest and arguably most successful issuer," Crum told
Business Travel News last month. The Frankfurt, Germany-based payment system company has more traction in Europe--where it claims more than 20,000 corporate clients, comprising 47 percent of Europe's top 500 companies--but the company is leveraging Crum's position "to increase the pace of our penetration into the U.S. market," said AirPlus president Patrick Diemer.
AirPlus' U.S.-based employees report to senior management in Europe. The company's move to bring on its first U.S.-based division president is a harbinger of more stateside activity, an AirPlus spokesperson said. Still, AirPlus has a relatively small operation in the United States.
AirPlus last month announced a co-branded payment and billing system with Continental Airlines, which mimicked AirPlus partnerships with British Airways and Swiss Airlines and was the first such partnership to take hold this side of the Atlantic
(BTN, Sept. 2003).
In the course of his five-year tenure at UATP, Crum helped forge "membership growth and strategic direction of UATP," a press statement said. During that time, UATP grew to encompass 15 airline issuers and increased acceptance to more than 200 airlines-providing an alternative to traditional corporate cards through a centrally billed account.
Meanwhile, UATP's board of directors in a unanimous vote selected vice president and general counsel Ralph Kaiser to take Crum's place. The board also elected United Airlines director of passenger revenue accounting Marc Krohn to become the board's vice chairman.