Orbitz Worldwide today named former Expedia executive Barney Harford as its new president and CEO, effective immediately. Harford fills the spot vacated by Steve Barnhart, "who resigned to pursue other interests," according to the company. Barnhart, who joined the company in 2003, will remain with Orbitz through early April in an advisory role.
Meanwhile, Travelocity Global today announced that Sabre Travel Network and Sabre Airline Solutions COO Hugh Jones as its president and CEO. Jones will replace Michelle Peluso, who announced her plans to leave the company Feb. 6.
In his new role, Harford plans on growing Orbitz Worldwide's supplier inventory—especially hotels—expanding internationally and implementing such emerging technologies as user-generated content to drive "organic traffic growth."
Although the company's core business lies in the leisure travel market, Harford said it would continue to build on its Orbitz for Business unit, which launched its international expansion at the end of 2008
(BTNonline, Dec. 8, 2008).
"There are definitely a lot of synergies because a lot of what we develop for Orbitz, CheapTickets, etc. is completely relevant to Orbitz for Business," Harford told
BTN. "There are bits of integration that make sense and other areas where it makes sense to have separate efforts. We are going to make the decision on that basis. Clearly, to the extent that we are going to bring on more inventory and make it available to Orbitz for Business customers and that makes sense for all parties, we are going to do that."
Harford served in various executive roles at Expedia from 1999 to 2006, including president of Asia/Pacific, where he oversaw the company's expansion into Australia, China and Japan. Most recently, he held seats on the boards of directors of three companies, including the Expedia majority-controlled Chinese online travel agency eLong, and an advisory role with Kayak.com. Harford never managed Egencia, formerly Expedia Corporate Travel, during his time at the company, but was "involved in a lot of the strategic discussions around how that business got built out."
Orbitz today also announced an initiative to further reduce its cost structure by $20 million to $25 million annually, on top of the $20 million cost-reduction efforts announced in November. In a conference call today, executives would not detail the newest cost-cutting initiative, but Barnhart said people-side cutting will be focused on "outsourced and external contractor resources."
Further information will be announced in February, when Orbitz releases its 2008 annual report.
Travelocity's Peluso served as president and CEO of the online travel agency since 2003. Peluso "decided to leave the company following the recent birth of her child, as she plans to seek an executive position that does not involve an ongoing, cross-country commute," the company said.