Conference Programme Speakers
Steven Small
Brand Director, Routes
An economic development and tourism specialist, Steven’s career has focussed on working with destinations supporting inward investment, tourism and economic development initiative.
Roles in inward investment, specifically site selection and project management, led Steven to the Northwest Regional Development Agency, where he developed a grant to help support regional airports' route development strategies.
As a consultant at Ernst and Young, Steven worked on a number of projects for both private and public sector organisations, including supporting the development of the business plan for Bath City Council. Back in Manchester he joined the city’s inward investment agency, MIDAS, helping attract businesses to the city.
From here, he moved to Marketing Manchester working on a variety of projects including funding packages for Manchester Central - the city’s main convention venue and the new National Football Museum, as well as delivering the route development fund for Manchester Airport. Steven then took on the role of Head of Business Tourism for Visit Manchester, working to attract major new events and conferences to the city.
Steven moved back to his home town of Liverpool as Head of Tourism, working with public and private stakeholders to develop a long term strategy to maximise the explosion of the visitor economy, since the European Capital of Culture in 2008, and ensure the city region continues to improve its offer and grow sustainably.
A move to UBM in February 2017 brought Steven back to route development. As Brand Director, Steven leads a team in the development and delivery of Routes - a portfolio of global events providing a platform for the route development community to negotiate new air services.
A father of two, Steven is a supporter of Everton football club and lives in a village in North Cheshire.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Javier Suarez
Chief Executive Officer, Canada Jetlines
Javier Suarez has over 10 years of airline executive experience. Most recently he was Vice President, Network Planning, Revenue Management, E-Commerce with VivaAerobus. During his tenure, Javier was part of the senior management team that improved profitability from a breakeven in 2014 to becoming the most profitable airline in Mexico in 2017. Over his four years, Javier launched 55 routes with a 98% success rate. Prior to VivaAerobus, he held progressively senior roles with Vueling Airlines from 2010 to 2014, an ultra-low-cost carrier in Europe, most notably as the Director of Network Planning, Scheduling, Slots and Corporate Affairs. He defined the Vueling network strategy that operated close to 400 routes and generated over USD $2 billion in revenue. Javier holds a Masters in Management from Harvard University, Masters in Marketing from ESIC Marketing School in Madrid, and Bachelor of Arts, Airline Business Administration from the Autonoma University of Madrid.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Ricardo Bastón
CEO, TAR Aerolíneas
During his +30 years aviation experience, Ricardo possess an international career, having held a variety of aviation management executive positions; including the functions of strategic planning; business development; route network design & optimisation; capacity & fleet planning; business economics & financial analysis; and large-scale asset transactions (flight equipment), joint ventures and alliances.
Prior to joining TAR, Ricardo has provided Strategic, Fleet Planning and Aircraft Negotiation Consulting services for airlines in three continents and a leasing company in Asia (China). On the OEM side, he was responsible for Strategic Planning, at Bombardier Commercial Aircraft (“BCA”) and for Sales in Latin America. As for the airline side, Ricardo held various positions, including EVP roles for Network, Fleet, Strategy, Operations and Procurement, in both Grupo Mexicana and Aeromexico.
He holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada and he obtained his Engineering degree from the National University of Mexico. He also holds certificates in: Business Strategy and Business Development from La Salle University and ITAM (“Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México”) in Mexico City, respectively.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Xavier Mufraggi
Chief Executive Officer, Club Med North America and the Caribbean
Xavier Mufraggi is a dynamic professional with a strong, strategic marketing background in the food, consumer and hospitality industries.
Mufraggi holds a master’s degree in Business Management from the EDHEC Business School (Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales du Nord) in France, known as one of the top executive business and management training programs in Europe. He began his career in sales and marketing for Kraft Foods in Europe. After seven years with Kraft, Mufraggi joined Club Med in 2005.
After spending three years with the company, at just 31 years old, Mufraggi was named the new CEO of Club Med’s North American business unit – including the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. As part of his role, Mufraggi was tasked with overseeing a nearly $300 million business unit with more than 3,000 employees.
In 2010, Mufraggi succeeded in turning around Club Med’s North American business unit: the unit posted record performances every year since 2011 with excellent prospects for the 2017-2020 time period. He is currently working on expanding the North American business unit resort portfolio by pioneering two new destinations: Miches in the Dominican Republic and Le Massif de Charlevoix in Québec, Canada.
Mufraggi has called France, the Ivory Coast and Washington, D.C., home, but now resides in Miami, Fla., with his wife and two daughters. He is avid about an active lifestyle and spends his free time training and competing in triathlons.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Omar Hashmi
Senior Consultant, ASM
Omar spent six years at Qatar Airways focusing on network development, business strategy, corporate planning and airline operational efficiency before joining ASM in 2013. He has also worked for Lufthansa Consulting, Deutsche Bank and the UK Government.
Omar provides in-depth market analysis for clients and offers a unique stance on the aviation industry. As Senior Consultant with ASM and from a Network Planning background regularly forecasts different routes on behalf of clients. Omar uses various forecasting methods as part of the business case process to convince airlines of new route opportunities.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Elizabeth Krimmel
Senior Manager, Deloitte
Liz has a decade of experience in aviation security screening and operations across checkpoint/checked baggage and people screening, and is a leader in Deloitte’s Government and Public Services Transportation Practice, focusing on the aviation ecosystem. She has worked with security technology manufacturers and stakeholders both domestically and globally, and currently leads multiple distinct efforts focused on evolving the traveler journey and enhancing security across the aviation enterprise. Liz holds a Masters in Public Policy from American University in Washington DC, and Bachelor of Arts from Johns Hopkins University.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Gaëtan Gagné
President and CEO, Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport
Gaëtan Gagné has been involved with Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport (YQB) for the last two decades – firstly as Board member (1997-2017), then as chairman of the Board and President of the Executive Committee (2001-2009) and, since 2010, as President and CEO.
Under his leadership, YQB airport traffic has doubled as a result of a strong Passenger First® focus and a $500m investment program leading notably to the construction of two major terminals.
He is involved in the Armed Forces as Honorary Colonel of the 35th Canadian Service Battalion. In 2012, he was awarded The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. Finally, in 2015, in recognition of his 12-year loyal service with the Forces, he received the Canadian Distinction decoration (C.D.).
He is a member of the American Association of Airport Executives, the Canadian Airports Council, the World Future Society and the National Association of Corporate Directors among others.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Michael J. Bell
Senior Client Partner, Korn Ferry
Michael was previously with a global recruiting firm, where he founded and led the Global Aviation, Aerospace & Defense Practice. He provides top-level executive search and leadership advisory services to a broad range of clients in the aviation aerospace, airline, and airport sectors.
Over his 23 years in the profession, Michael has led over 1,000 searches for aviation and aerospace organizations around the globe, including numerous CEO and C-level mandates. Michael is also active in the Board Practice and has assisted numerous aerospace and aviation sector clients in the recruitment of outstanding board directors.
Earlier in his career, Michael enjoyed seven years at McKinsey & Company with a specific focus on the firm’s Organizational Performance Practice. Prior to McKinsey, he worked at the Rotman School of Management of the University of Toronto, where he partnered with the dean, the faculty and the dean’s advisory council on a broad range of development areas, including strategic planning, program development, fundraising, community and alumni relations.
Michael is an active contributor to the latest thinking on leadership in the aviation arena and serves as a regular speaker and moderator at industry conferences, having addressed audiences at over 100 events on five continents. In addition, he has authored several industry studies on leadership and published numerous articles in aviation and aerospace industry trade media.
Michael holds a Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Industrial Engineering from the University of Toronto.
He speaks English, French and Arabic and has worked in more than 60 countries around the globe.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Steven Greenway
President, Swoop
Steven has 20+ years of airline, loyalty and advisory experience with emphasis on low-cost-carriers (LCC). Having worked across the world with start-ups, turnarounds and established leading airlines, Steven is adept at building “something from nothing.”
Having undertaken a range of C-level and Board roles, Steven’s areas of expertise ranges from sales and distribution to planning and revenue management, ancillary revenue, E/M-commerce, loyalty and commercial strategy.
More recently, Steven was a founding member and Chief Commercial Officer for Scoot, Singapore Airlines’ successful mid-to-long-haul LCC. He was also CEO of reward-U, the pioneering LCC loyalty/everyday program of HK Express, and Board Director of Zuji, one of Asia’s leading Online Travel Agencies (OTA).
At the start of 2018 Steven joined Swoop, Canada’s ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC), and a subsidiary of the WestJet Group, as President. Armed with a deep understanding of ULCC best practices, Steven is leading Swoop on a mission to offer consumers more choice and lower fares, getting more Canadians travelling. Swoop successfully started Canadian operations on June 20, 2018 and has quickly expanded to the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean, becoming Canada’s first international ULCC.
Steven has a Bachelor of Economics and Bachelor of Political Science.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Michèle Barre
VP Network, Revenue Management and Pricing, Air Transat
Michèle Barre cumulates more than 25 years of professional experience in the aviation industry, working until very recently for Air France. She has headed a variety of sectors over the years, among them revenue management, pricing and network planning. She also served as Vice-President, Corporate Strategy, for the Air France-KLM group in recent years.
Michèle’s career has been marked by numerous important achievements, including helping strengthen and grow Air France’s long-haul network, being a key player in the merger of the Air France and KLM revenue management and pricing sectors, successfully developing many partnerships and strategic alliances within the group and taking part in the start-up and the development of the Air France’s regional subsidiary. She occupies since 2017 the position of Vice-President, Network, Revenue Management and Pricing at Transat.
Michèle is an engineer by training, a graduate of Paris École supérieure d'informatique, électronique, automatique. She has obtained in 2010 the Joint Executive Management Program MBA from Air France KLM in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Ashish Kumar
Chief Executive Officer, Zunum Aero
Ashish Kumar is Founder and CEO of Zunum Aero. Inspired by the disruptive power of electric aircraft, he founded Zunum Aero following a long record of commercial leadership across Microsoft, Google, Dell, and McKinsey. His startup experience includes helping launch Aeroxchange, now the largest electronic marketplace for the aviation industry. Ashish has a B.Tech. from IIT Delhi, and a PhD in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Cornell University, and spent his early career as Professor of Engineering at Brown University, and as research fellow at Sandia National Laboratories. Whether hiking or sailing, he is excited to combine his love for the outdoors with his work on sustainable flight.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Ed Hazelwood
Editor-In-Chief Conferences, Aviation Week Network
Ed Hazelwood is the Editor-In-Chief Conferences for Aviation Week Network.
Hazelwood has spent the last 33 years reporting on aviation, aerospace and defense. Currently he organizes numerous aviation/aerospace conferences and events that take place around the world in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.
He has been chief correspondent for a national television news program devoted to aviation and editor of numerous publications devoted to ATC, aviation in China & Russia, and ballistic missile defense.
Throughout the 1990s he has conducted numerous studies that included research on European and Asia airports, an extensive analysis of the existing and unfolding airline market in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Hazelwood does significant public speaking at aviation and aerospace events and conferences around the world.
He has won numerous awards in journalism, including the International Award for Best Continuing Coverage of a news story by the Radio and Television News Directors Association and the top award by the Newsletter Publishers Association for a one on one interview with President Ronald Reagan.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Helena Bononi
Director of Industry Relations, World Travel & Tourism Council
Helena Bononi joined the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) in March 2018, following a varied career in Travel & Tourism.
WTTC is the global body that represents travel & tourism worldwide. A sector that generates 10% of GDP and employs circa 300 million jobs. Helena manages travel facilitation programs and handles multiple assignments related to travel facilitation, including the WTTC Seamless Traveller Journey programme aiming at harmonizing the implementation of technologies in the travel and tourism sector. She interfaces with public and private sectors, including Travel and Tourism Organizations, as well as business leaders who participate or impact the traveller end to end process.
Since 1995 she has worked for the travel industry, starting at American Airlines in Latin America, gaining extensive experience in all aspects of commercial aviation. Later she worked at the Sabre Travel Network where she was a Regional Director for Brazil, responsible for Customer Services. In July 2012 she was appointed Director Global Operations at the Sabre Corporation Headquarters in Texas, USA. She directed various activities to support strategic initiatives globally, as for example, managed implementation of global functions, processes and internal tools in the new centres of Singapore and Bangalore.
Helena has working experience in Latin America, North America, Europe and Asia and she has comprehensive knowledge of corporate affairs, program management and customer support, and speaks fluent English, Portuguese and Spanish.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Dakota Smith
Head of Growth and Business, Hopper
Dakota directs a cross-functional growth team and is responsible for aligning user growth with supply growth and business interests at Hopper. Under his leadership, Hopper has become one of the fastest growing travel apps ever with over 30 million installs since its launch in 2015. Hopper now sells over $1.5M of flights each day directly in the app and the company has raised $235M CAD in venture funding on the back of its success. Prior to joining Hopper, Dakota was working in the online travel space in Hong Kong.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Alvaro Leite
Chief Commercial Officer, Aerodom / VINCI Airports
Alvaro Leite has 13 years of airport experience in varying roles. Since September 2017, he has been employed as Chief Commercial Officer in Aerodom, part of VINCI Airport and he has been based in Santo Domingo. He manages all commercial affairs for all Aerodom airports’ revenue as well as business planning and strategy development: route development, cargo, commercial retail, F&B, car parking advertisement, and passenger experience.
In this last role he is responsible for assessing the aviation potential for the bids and M&A projects in which VINCI Airports participate with especial focus on the Americas and Caribe. Together with providing a long term traffic forecast and defining the future strategy for potential new airports, he also plays an on ongoing role in the integration and optimisation of some of the Airline Marketing Departments of VINCI Airports portfolio (consisting of some 37 airports worldwide).
Since joining VINCI Airports, he participated in several tender processes around the world and has a been a key member of the successful team which won the concession of Osaka Airports (two airports in Japan), Aerodom (six airports in Dominican Republic) and Salvador Airport in Brazil.
Prior to this, he worked for 9 years at Porto Airport (ACI/ASQ Best European Airport 2007, 2016) where he was responsible for airline marketing. Porto was a very successful story. From 3.4 million passengers in 2006, it served 7 million passengers in 2014 and reached 9M passengers in 2016. Eight new airlines commenced operations in that seven year period, helping the airport to pass from 20 direct services to 65 direct services at the time.
Due to the nature of his roles he has a vast knowledge of the aviation industry, the markets in different geographies and the challenges airlines and airports face.
During his studies and professional career Alvaro Leite lived in five different countries and he is currently living in Paris. He holds an International MBA (Universidade Catolica Porto / ESADE Barcelona) and a Masters in Electronic Engineering and he is fluent in five languages. His professional path helped me to learn, understand and appreciate different cultures and people and to adapt to multicultural environments, an important attribute given the international nature of the aviation industry.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Vincent Hodder
Chief Executive Officer, LEVEL
Vincent Hodder is an experienced global aviation executive with over 20 years’ experience working with airlines in Asia, Australia, Africa, Latin America and Europe. Vincent has held executive level positions with UK regional airline Flybe, Mexican ultra low cost airline VivaAerobus, Australian and Asian low cost airline group Jetstar and former Central American airline group TACA (now part of Avianca).
Vincent most recently worked as the Chief Revenue Officer and Chief Strategy Officer with Flybe where he was instrumental in turning around revenue performance and refining the strategic direction of the business.
Prior to joining Flybe, Vincent played a key role in restructuring the commercial capabilities as Chief Commercial Officer at VivaAerobus while at Jetstar, Vincent was one of the architects of Jetstar’s Pan Asian strategy and lead the startup of Jetstar Japan as Executive Director and Senior Vice President of Operations (COO). At TACA, Vincent was Vice President of Strategic Development and worked on strategic projects across the business including M&A activity, commercial and operational performance improvement, cost reduction and process and cultural change
Vincent also spent three years at Bain & Co where he worked for airline clients in Australia and South Africa and private equity, insurance and manufacturing clients in the USA and South Korea.
He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Melbourne and an MBA from the Melbourne Business School at the University of Melbourne.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Richard Muise
Director, Canadian Airport Operations, American Airlines
Richard Muise is American Airlines’ new Director of Europe Operations. In this new position, he is responsible for the airline’s 22 trans-Atlantic stations apart from London Heathrow. Richard joined US Airways in 2002 as a Trainer in International Customer Service. In 2006 Richard moved to Philadelphia where he assumed the role of Senior Manager, International Operations at the carrier’s largest transatlantic hub and led the hub’s Star Alliance Airport Team. Richard then was General Manager in Denver (working closely with United to optimize customer and baggage transfers as part of the codeshare program with US Airways) and later Fort Lauderdale before returning to Canada in 2014 to oversee American’s operations in the country as their first Director of Canadian Operations. Richard oversaw merger integration of American/US Airways in the country including colocations, labor strategy and business optimization projects. His new role in Europe will be based in Madrid and will work closely with Iberia to optimize operational performance of Atlantic Joint Business activities between the two carriers. A native of Montreal, Richard has an MBA from Queen’s University and is currently the Management sponsor of American’s Canadian Chapter of Professional Women in Aviation ERG.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Filipe Reis
Director, Airports, Passenger, Cargo & Security, IATA
Filipe joined IATA in 2003 as Country Manager for Brazil. Filipe holds a bachelor degree in economics, and concluded his Masters in Administration at Fundação Getúlio Vargas in São Paulo, Brazil, in 2010.
With more than 25 years’ experience in the civil aviation sector, Filipe started his career as a trainee at Lufthansa German Airlines. After heading IATA`s operations in Brazil for 10 years, Filipe joined the Miami Regional Office of IATA in 2013 as Director of Airport, Passenger, Cargo and Security, for The Americas.
Amongst his objectives are the promotion of IATA`s Passenger and Cargo Agendas, which include projects on revolutionizing the travel experience for passengers and the elimination of paper from the Cargo processes through the implementation of e-cargo. On the airport side, Filipe coordinates IATA initiatives on improving security and facilitation, as well as airport expansions and modernization projects. Lastly, Filipe leads IATA engagements with airports and regulatory bodies regarding developments on new regulations, charges and taxation.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Nigel Mayes
Senior Vice President, Consulting & Product Development, ASM
Nigel has over 15 years’ experience in route development and is responsible for product development at ASM. He gained his industry experience at Birmingham Airport where he was responsible for long haul route development, and he also spent six years developing commercial revenues and industry links at Routes, including an online forum for the route development community.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Randall Saenz Aguero
Head of International Business Development, GOL
Randall Saenz Aguero is the Head of International Business Development at Brazil Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes, where he leads the international expansion. Previously, he was the Airport Operations and Customer Service Director.
Randall has worked in different areas of the air transport and travel industry with reputable firms, including American Airlines, Netjets Europe, Alterra and RIOgaleão. He has a track record in airport infrastructure (P3´s) and development, general management, alliances and airport airlines ground operations.
He holds a BS in Business Administrations and a MBA from Instituto de Empresa in Madrid with a diploma in Transport Economics and Airport Management from the Singapore Aviation Academy. During his “free time” Randall has the pleasure to teach at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University Worldwide Campus.
He is Costar Rican but he his work experience includes Europe, Asia and Latin America, being Brazil his last port of entry and current “home” since 2008.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Werner Geissbuhler
Corporate Finance & Strategy Director, Sky Airline
Mr. Werner Geissbühler is SKY’s Corporate Finance and Strategy Director, position he assumed in October 2016. His current functions include management control, corporate finance, network planning and corporate strategy. He has an Industrial Engineering degree from Universidad Católica de Chile and a MBA from London Business School. Prior his studies in London, Mr. Geissbühler was Senior Manager of Corporate Finance at LATAM Airlines Group, where we worked between 2008 and 2014 and was responsible for aircraft financing, financial planning and risk analysis.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Jude Bricker
President and CEO, Sun Country Airlines
Jude was appointed Sun Country’s President and CEO in July of 2017. He previously served as the COO and EVP of Allegiant Travel Co. Prior to his career with Allegiant, Jude was a finance manager at American Airlines. From 1996 to 2002, he served as an Infantry Officer in the US Marine Corps. Jude is a native Texan, and holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M University and a Masters of Business Administration from University of Texas. Jude, his wife, Ty, and their three children reside in Deephaven, MN.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Julio Gamero
Chief Commercial Officer, Interjet
Fernando Estrada
VP of Strategy, Business Development & Ancillary Revenues, Vivaaerobus
An aviation industry professional with more than 15 years of strategic planning expertise, analytical acumen, revenue generation, operational experience and proven leadership abilities. Also Board Member experience in Vueling Airlines and GoldCar Rental.
As VP Strategy, Network Planning,Business Development and Ancillary Revenue, reporting to the CEO, responsible to further develop the ULCC model combining a profitable network expansion while maximizing Ancillary Revenue stream and keeping the lowest cost in the region.
As Chief Strategy Officer at Vueling Airlines, reporting to the CEO, responsible for Business Development, Network planning and Alliances. Prior to that led the team responsible of the merger between Vueling and clickair where he enrolled in 2007.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Nancy Houley
Cruise Market Director, Quebec Port Authority
Participating Talks and Sessions
Clint Lamm
Director Field Operations, Preclearance Field Office, US Customs and Border Protection
Clint Lamm became the Director Field Operations for the Preclearance Field Office in August of 2018, overseeing more than 600 CBP Officers and Agriculture Specialists and U.S. air, sea and rail border operations at 16 ports in 6 countries, including Aruba, Bermuda, The Bahamas, Canada, Ireland, and The United Arab Emirates.
From 2016, Mr. Lamm served as Area Port Director, Boston, where he managed the processing of 3 million travelers and $30 billion in cargo entering Southern New England annually.
Prior to that Mr. Lamm served as Acting Executive Director of CBP Labor and Employee Relations, and as Director of Alternative Funding Programs where he spearheaded the Reimbursable Services and Donations Acceptance public-private partnership programs.
Mr. Lamm began his Federal career in 1998 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He is a 2013 graduate of the CBP Leadership Institute at the University of Chicago, and a 2017 graduate of the DHS Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program through American University. Mr. Lamm holds a Master of Arts in Diplomacy from Norwich University and a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Kaplan University.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Raphael Lanfant
Head of Travel partnerships, Alibaba Group North America
Raphael graduated from Paris-Sorbonne University and started his career in Paris. Raphael has 18 years of business development and marketing experience in online travel, e-commerce and digital media.
Raphael started his career as part of the founding team of PriceMinister (now rebranded Rakuten France), the eBay-equivalent in Europe. When he relocated to Sydney, Australia, Raphael led marketing and e-business for Club Med. He then ran business development and account management teams for Orbitz and Expedia's partnership divisions in Asia Pacific, closing and developing some of the most impactful hotel distribution alliances in Southeast Asia and Australia/New Zealand.
Four years ago, Raphael moved to New York and joined Intent Media, a fast growing travel data science start-up, to drive their expansion efforts globally.
Early 2017, Raphael joined Alibaba Group to help North American brands and merchants sell in China. He now lead travel and tourism partnerships for Alibaba Group in North America.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Geneviève Guilbault
Vice Premier, Québec
Geneviève Guilbault is the Deputy Premier of the Province of Québec, Canada, and the Honorary President of Routes America 2019. She was first elected as a Member of the National Assembly for Louis-Hébert on October 2, 2017. She was appointed Deputy Premier, Minister of Public Security and Minister Responsible for the Capitale-Nationale Region on October 18, 2018.
Prior to undertaking her political career, Geneviève Guilbault served as Communications and Media Relations Officer for the provincial coroner’s office (2008-2017), as Spokesperson for the Organisation de la sécurité civile du Québec during the Operation Welcome Syrian Refugees (2015), as Communications Advisor for the Ministère de la sécurité publique (2009), as Communications Advisor for the Secrétariat du Conseil du trésor (2008), and as Assistant Press Secretary for the Offices of the Minister of Public Security and of the Minister of Justice (2006-2008).
Geneviève Guilbault studied in public communication, obtaining her bachelor’s degree from Université Laval in 2006 and her master’s degree from Université Laval in 2011.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Luis Felipe de Oliveira
Executive Director & CEO, ALTA
Luis Felipe is a Chemical Engineer graduated from the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro with vast experience in commercial and technical aviation fuel. He is successfully leading ALTA since last October with very positive changes in the organization. Prior to joining, Luis Felipe served as World Fuel Services’ Vice President Supply Development for Latin America and Caribbean where he was responsible to improve World Fuel’s aviation fuel business in the region.
For 10 years, Luis Felipe served IATA, leading fuel and airport campaigns with governments, oil companies, fuel service providers and airports for the Americas, Africa and the Middle East regions, based in Switzerland. Additionally, he served 12 years at Shell companies with focus in Latin America and the Caribbean, mainly, Africa and Europe, based in The Netherlands.
Luis Felipe has a postgraduate in Finance from the University of São Paulo, an MBA from Dom Cabral Foundation in São Paulo, and Post MBA from Kellogg University in Chicago.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Nawal Taneja
Aviation Business Strategist, Executive-In-Residence, Fisher College of Business
Nawal Taneja has five decades of experience in the aviation industry, having worked for and advised major airlines, as well as aviation-related businesses worldwide. His experience also includes the presidency of a small airline that provided schedule and charter service with jet aircraft and the presidency of a research organization that provided consulting services to the air transportation community throughout the world. On the government side, he has advised worldwide departments of civil aviation. Within the academic community, he has served on the Faculties at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and at the Ohio State University.
As a business author, he has written, at the encouragement of, and for, practitioners, eleven books on the airline industry. The most recent three are: (number 11) Re-Platforming the Airline Business—to Meet Travelers’ Total Mobility Needs (will be coming out in the middle of January 2019); (number 10) 21st Century Airlines—Connecting the Dots, and (number 9) Airline Industry—Poised for Disruptive Innovation? He also writes a column in the Airline Leader, a Strategy Journal for Airline CEOs, published by the Centre for Aviation—CAPA—based in Sydney, AustraliaCurrently, he holds two positions at the Ohio State University: an Executive-In-Residence at the Fisher College of Business and a Distinguished Fellow in the College of Engineering. He continues to be invited to make presentations at industry aviation conferences and to participate in brain-storming sessions with different sectors in the global aviation industry on topics related to the industry’s changing business models.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering (First Class Honors from the University of London), a Master’s degree in Flight Transportation (MIT), a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MIT), and a Doctorate in Air Transportation (University of London).
He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society of Great Britain.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Ferio Pugliese
Senior Vice President Regional Markets and Government Relations, Air Canada
Participating Talks and Sessions
The Honourable Mélanie Joly MP
Minister of Tourism, Official Languages and La Francophonie, Government of Canada
The Honourable Mélanie Joly is Minister of Tourism, Official Languages and La Francophonie. Her mandate consists of growing, and increasing the visibility of, the Canadian tourism industry, which accounts for nearly two million jobs across the country; safeguarding our two official languages; and promoting the use of French in Canada and around the world, including in the digital sphere. She is taking on this challenge with enthusiasm, after having been Minister of Canadian Heritage from 2015 to 2018. In that position, she passionately promoted Canadian culture, announcing a historic reinvestment in culture as well as the largest federal investment in official languages to date in this country.
In addition to her ministerial duties, Mélanie Joly occupies a leadership role within Cabinet as Chair of the Cabinet Committee on Environment and Clean Growth.
A lawyer by training, Minister Joly holds an Honours Bachelor of Law from Université de Montréal and a Magister Juris in European and Comparative Law from the University of Oxford. She was awarded a number of prizes and scholarships, including the Chevening Scholarship, administered by the United Kingdom’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office. She is a firm believer in the importance of community involvement, and her enthusiasm for community service has led her to sit on a number of boards of directors. She has been recognized many times for her involvement, including receiving the Arnold Edinborough Award in 2010—the first woman from Quebec to do so—for her commitment to the cultural community.
Prior to her entry into federal politics, Minister Joly founded and led Le vrai changement pour Montréal party, running for mayor of Montréal in 2013 under its banner. She is the author of Changing the Rules of the Game, sharing a personal vision for public policy and civic engagement. She was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.
Minister Joly was elected to the House of Commons for the first time in 2015 and is proud to be the Member of Parliament for Ahuntsic–Cartierville.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Mike St Laurent
Vice President Consulting, ASM
Mike brings over 30 years of airline experience to ASM. He had a long career at Air Canada where he was responsible for the planning and launch of many successful new routes, holding senior roles in network planning, strategy, fleet planning, scheduling and revenue management. He joined ASM in 2014.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Simon Elliott
Manager Airport Commercial Negotiations, TUI Aviation
Simon is an accomplished aviation professional with over 30 years’ experience in the industry.
Most recently his management & consultancy role at TUI, the world’s number one tourism group with over 150 aircraft spread over five European countries operating to over 180 destinations worldwide, has seen him make significant cost savings through negotiating and implementing commercial and operational efficiencies across TUI’s global business.
Experienced in Airport Infrastructure Build Assessments (Capital Investment Projects) against Operational Benefits & Costs and Tariff Charging Recovery Consultations as well as negotiating multi-million pound contracts; navigating them through heavy aviation regulatory landscapes.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Álvaro González
Chief Executive Officer, Bogota El Dorado International Airport
Álvaro González was named as General Manager in OPAIN S.A on the 1st of september, 2017. He is an Airport Administrator from Escuela Técnica Aeronáutica DGAC (Chile) and has more than 20 years of experience in the airport management sector.
Before joining OPAIN S.A he was the General Manager at the Ernesto Cortizzos International Airport in Barranquilla. He has been the Operations Director at Mariscal Sucre International Airport (Quito, Ecuador) and at Unique-Idc, the concession in charge of the international airports in Honduras.
He also has experience with many relevant airport operations companies such as Airport Worldwide (Houston, USA) and Vancouver Airport Services, among other important projects within the sector.
Among the challenges Mr. González have been face at El Dorado there is the supervision of the final building phase of the expansion and modernization process in the terminal and the consolidation of the team´s effort in the quest to offer the best experiences to its clients and users. In terms of international recognitions, Mr. González is in charge of achieving the Five Star qualification given by Skytrax and will lead the process to preserve the title as Best Airport in SouthAmerica achieved by El Dorado in the World Airport Awards during the last two years.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Tracy Cooper
Chief Executive Officer, Bahamasair
Mr. Tracy Cooper is the Managing Director of Bahamasair Holdings Limited having been recently appointed to this position in October 2016. Moreover, he is an Aviator of over thirty-two (32) years with most of his time dedicated to Aircraft Maintenance and the airline’s major projects (i.e. Aircraft Heavy Maintenance and Aircraft Acquisition).
His training includes:
- FAA Airframe & Powerplant License (Alabama Aviation & Technical College)
- Associate Degree - Aircraft Maintenance Technology (Enterprise State College)
- Bachelors Degree – Aeronautical Engineering (Parks College, St. Louis University)
- Masters Degree – Business Administration (University of Miami)
- Bahamas Department of Civil Aviation Aircraft License – Airframe & Powerplant Maintenance
Mr. Cooper has worked his full aviation career at Bahamasair and has been a part of the Senior and Executive Management team for twenty-three (23) years.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Jim Scott
President and CEO, Flair Airlines
A Canadian aviation veteran, Jim Scott is the President and CEO of Flair Airlines, Canada’s only independent low-fare airline.
In his role, Jim is responsible for leading the low-fare carrier’s strategic planning and growing the airline’s presence and market share. Scott has led the company’s transition from charter airline to scheduled carrier, and has helped the airline expand to 10 Canadian and six US. Last year, Flair carried close to a million passengers safely and affordably, and employs more than 300 aviation professionals.
An experienced pilot, entrepreneur, and corporate leader, Jim has been with Flair since January 2018.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Nikolay Maltsev
Strategic Adviser, Flycana
Nikolay is an experienced airline specialist and has worked on a number of start-up airline projects in Europe, Asia and Americas. Seven years of experience in the aviation sector through various roles focusing on finance and strategy of low cost and start-ups airlines. Prior to joining Flycana, Nikolay was part of the founding team at Cobalt in Cyprus, which had a successful launch in 2016. At Flycana, Nikolay is working on network development and financial aspect of the company in the role of a Strategic Adviser.
Nikolay is a Commerce graduate from University of British Columbia Sauder School of Business, Vancouver, Canada. Fluent in both English and Russian, adapting to Spanish speaking country with some Spanish classes.