Patrick Andersen
CWT president and chief commercial officer Patrick Andersen will become the travel management company's CEO on May 1, as current CEO Michelle McKinney Frymire announced on Monday that she would step down.
The transition will be one year to the day after McKinney Frymire, formerly CWT's CFO, stepped up to the CEO position following the departure of Kurt Ekert. She then led CWT through a restructuring process that included a prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, which enabled the TMC to slash its debt in half and access $350 million in new capital.
CWT called Andersen's appointment "part of the company's long-term succession planning process."
"We have made substantial achievements during extraordinary times, and I am grateful to our global team and customers for their trust and supportive partnership," McKinney Frymire said in a statement. "Now, with a strong financial foundation in place, CWT is positioned to accelerate its growth plan, and I’m pleased to pass the baton to Patrick."
Andersen has been with CWT since 2008, during which time he oversaw the launch of its MyCWT platform in China, the expansion of its RoomIt by CWT global hotel distribution division and new long-term technology partnership agreements with global distribution systems. CWT board chair Jim Abrahamson in a statement said Andersen has "deep-rooted relationships" with customers and "has demonstrated superb leadership through overseeing our strategic priorities."
Andersen said he was ready to lead CWT "to its next stage of growth."
“As travel demand increases, CWT is well positioned to invest in and expand its industry leadership and global relationships," he said. "Importantly, I’ll continue our commitment to our core values and look forward to working with our board and the CWT team to enhance our technology, and further strengthen the travel and events services we provide to our customers around the world."