Travel management company Carlson Wagonlit Travel this month announced the appointment of longtime American Express distribution and supplier relations executive Andrew Winterton to the newly created post of president of suppliers, products and technology.
The position combines the previously separate roles of chief information officer and executive vice president of technology and product management once held by Loren Brown, who has left CWT, with the role of executive vice president of global supplier management once held by Mike Koetting, who has been named COO of CWT North America.
Winterton joined CWT June 1 after resigning in mid-April as American Express Business Travel's senior vice president of global supplier relations and Latin America general manager. He is based in the United Kingdom and, like Koetting, is a member of the firm's global executive team, reporting directly to president and CEO Douglas Anderson.
Winterton will oversee a review of CWT's technology portfolio and development plan. He plans to continue the global product deployment course charted in the company's three-year growth strategy, which runs through 2010, while tailoring products to specific markets.
"My role here is really a catalyst to make sure we focus the resources and talent that CWT has to continue to grow the value we give to suppliers and to customers," said Winterton. "We need global consistency with strong local relevance."
In his supplier-relations role, Winterton will steer CWT through the next round of negotiations between U.S. airlines and the global distribution systems. Winterton was the key architect of American Express' TravelBahn commercial agreements, which shielded clients from content or fee impacts wrought from some airline-GDS negotiations
(BTNonline, Dec. 4, 2006)."Our role is to make sure that everybody understands the implications of the different channels and if there is fragmentation, we obviously have views about how to manage in that environment," Winterton said. "We will continue to develop our strategies and tactics to make sure our customers are as sheltered as possible from the implications."