US Airways senior vice president of marketing and planning
Andrew Nocella will serve as chief marketing officer of the merged American
Airlines, BTN has learned. He will
oversee the commercial organization, which includes the agency and corporate
sales team that AA vice president of global sales Derek DeCross will continue
to lead under the same title.
DeCross in a memo to clients laid out goals "including
providing our corporate customers and agency partners with a single point of
contact with the new American shortly following merger close" and a plan
to "respond to incoming RFPs as one company post-close, including a
combined network and joint pricing terms."
Nocella's domain also will include loyalty, alliances,
marketing, scheduling and digital channels. He will report to US Airways
president Scott Kirby, who will maintain his title at the new AA.
Filling out Nocella's team, US Airways vice president of
ecommerce, mobile and distribution John Gustafson will become vice president of
digital channels, overseeing aa.com and mobile services.
AA vice president of strategic alliances Kurt Stache will be
promoted to senior vice president of alliances and partnerships. US Airways
managing director for marketing and customer loyalty programs Fern Fernandez
will be promoted to AA vice president of global marketing.
AA vet Suzanne Rubin will maintain her role as vice
president of insight and customer loyalty, overseeing the frequent flyer
program, partner marketing and customer relationship management.
It was not clear who will oversee distribution of the
combined carrier.
Meanwhile, the airlines this week also announced the
post-merger teams for finance, which will report up to CFO-to-be and US Airways
vet Derek Kerr, and the operations team headed by US Airways COO Robert Isom,
who will maintain that role at the combined carrier.
US Airways CEO Doug Parker, who will lead the merged
carrier, last month announced his senior management team, which is tilted
toward US Airways personnel.
The carriers anticipate the transaction to close by the end
of September, pending U.S. Department of Justice review. In the meantime, teams
from both companies continue to work on integration planning.
"While we remain competitors until the merger closes, we are
engaged in substantial integration planning so that we will be well positioned
to successfully combine our commercial, customer service, operations and
corporate functions after the merger is approved," according to the DeCross
memo. "Members from both the US Airways and American global sales teams
continue to work, as allowed by our legal departments, to ensure a successful
and smooth transition for all of our customers."