Business Travel Executive, April 2018

10Business Travel Executive APRIL 2018 INDUSTRY NEWS People he will now also serve on the groups Asia executive committee American Airlines named Peter Warlick as vice president corporate development and Heather Garboden as vice president financial planning and analysis Warlick has been with Peter Warlick the airline since 1994 and has held multiple positions including most recently vice president financial analysis Garboden has been serving as vice president financial planning She adds the functions of labor and financial analysis and fleet planning Brussels Airlines has named Dieter Vranckx as CFO and deputy CEO beginning May 1 Vranckx will head the airlines finance department and will also lead the Aeropolitical and human resources units and the IT division He has held multiple jobs at Lufthansa and has also worked at Swissair and Sabena Associated Luxury Hotels International has named David Almond regional vice president of sales for the Midwest US and Canada He will oversee sales teams in Chicago Kansas City Louisville and Toronto He had been director of sales and marketing for the InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile and prior to that worked for Starwood and Hilton SBE a hospitality company has named Siddharth Narang as chief development officer responsible for the development pipeline real estate investments and global growth He has nearly 20 years of experience in hospitality real estate and brand development having worked with Crescent Capital Ventures and Starwood Hotels and Resorts Furnished Quarters a provider of temporary furnished apartments has appointed Dawn Rana as director of corporate sales Rana previously held management roles at Smith Corporate Living National Corporate Housing Wereldhave Management and Churchill Living totaling about 20 years in the corporate housing industry Priceline Group Renamed Booking Holdings Priceline Group has changed its name to Booking Holdings effective immediately According to CEO Glenn Fogel Booking com is now the companys largest brand with more than 15 million listed properties and over a million bookings a day producing a significant majority of Booking Holdings gross bookings and operating profit The change is being made to more accurately align the company name with its largest business Fogel said Booking Holdings consists of six primary brands Booking com Priceline com Kayak Agoda com Rentalcars com and Open Table The parent organization will continue to operate out of its Norwalk CT headquarters Aeromexico Celebrates Its First Boeing 737 MAX Aeromexico has taken delivery of its first Boeing 737 MAX The aircraft is set to begin its inaugural operations on a route from Mexico City to Cancun The airline has 90 MAX 8s and 9s on order with Boeing a fleet enhancement that the carrier says will allow it to open up new routes with lower operating costs We are very proud to be one of the first airlines in Latin America operating this aircraft which allows us to provide operational efficiencies that translate into multiple benefits for our clients both in terms of their experience on board and the options they have to reach their destination said Andrés Conesa CEO of Aeromexico Uber Rolls Out Express POOL Uber has launched a new rideshare option called Express POOL available in select cities Express POOL gives users better prices for rides at connected meeting spots The user may walk a few blocks to a nearby pick up location and will share a ride to a drop off location near their destination Walkable directions will appear on the users app to get them to their final destination The pilot program has been operating in San Francisco and Boston Los Angeles San Diego Denver Miami Philadelphia and Washington DC launched in February and Uber says Express POOL will be expanding to more cities soon BTE Heather Garboden David Almond