AGM 2026 Speakers

Willie Walsh became the eighth person to lead the International Air Transport Association (IATA) when he took on the role of Director General in April 2021, after an airline industry career spanning over 40 years.

> See Willie Walsh's bio and photos

Nick Allan has been the Chief Executive Officer of Control Risks since January 2019. Previously, he was CEO for the Europe and Africa Region, and before that led the Asia Pacific region for a number of years. Nick sits on the Board and Executive Committee.

Throughout his career at Control Risks, Nick has advised clients on some of their most complex strategic challenges, helping them to understand the totality of their risk profiles. From directing a global cyber security transformation exercise at a leading international insurance firm, to advising a mining investor on its worldwide expansion, Nick has focused on finding solutions and opportunities that are dynamic and pragmatic. He has a particular interest in the role of business in conflict areas.

Before becoming CEO, Nick was central to the creation of Control Risks’ cyber security business and driving the company’s expansion in Africa and Europe.

Nick is invited to speak at events across the world. Recent engagements include ExCred International, the International Court of Justice Conference and Africa Real Estate Investors. He has featured in international media including the BBC, CNBC and Bloomberg.

Before Control Risks, most of Nick’s career was spent with De La Rue. He studied Politics at the University of Bristol and has an MBA from Imperial College Management School, University of London. Nick speaks fluent Spanish and conversational Portuguese.

Chief Executive Officer of LATAM Airlines Group since April 2020. He holds a degree in Civil Engineering from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and an MBA from the International Institute forManagement Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland. 

With more than 20 years of experience at LATAM, Roberto has played a key role in the company’s transformation and consolidation as the leading airline group in South America. Prior to becoming CEO, he held several senior leadership positions, including Chief Commercial Officer, Senior Vice President of International and Alliances, Finance and Administration Director of LAN Argentina, Manager of Financial Planning and Development, and Deputy Finance Manager of LAN Airlines.  

Under his leadership, LATAM has strengthened its position as a key driver of connectivity and development across the region, advancing a vision focused on people, innovation, sustainability, and long-term value creation for the communities it serves.

A strong advocate for the transformative role of aviation, he promotes an agenda centered on expanding opportunities, connecting territories, and contributing to South America’s economic and social development. 

Dr. Levi Breeding builds aviation systems around the people who operate them. With more than two decades in frontline operations, corporate safety leadership, federal research, and airline safety governance, he combines lived experience with behavioral science to tackle some of the industry's most complex human performance challenges.

Dr. Breeding began his aviation career as a flight attendant before progressing through a series of corporate leadership roles across American Airlines, Continental, and United Airlines, spanning inflight management, regulatory compliance, safety investigation, and line operations safety assessment. That operational foundation led him to the Federal Aviation Administration's Civil Aerospace Medical Institute, where he conducted research on cabin safety and led efforts to apply extended reality (XR) to flight attendant and air traffic control training programs. He has since returned to United Airlines, where he applies behavioral science to safety oversight and operational performance, and holds a faculty appointment at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, teaching human factors and psychology at the graduate and undergraduate levels.

Abha Dogra is the Chief Product Officer at IBS Software, responsible for the company’s global product vision, strategy, and execution. With deep expertise in P&L management, she would ensure that product strategy is tightly aligned with financial performance and long-term business growth.With over two decades of experience in product management and technology leadership, she brings deep expertise in shaping and scaling digital platforms across industries. Prior to joining IBS Software, Abha served as Chief Product and Technology Officer at CAE. She has held senior roles at ADP, Iron Mountain, Akamai Technologies, PTC, and Schneider Electric, consistently leading transformative product initiatives that combine user-centric innovation with business growth.

Abha holds an MBA from NMIMS, Mumbai, and a master’s degree in computer science from Boston University. Based in Boston, she is an avid traveler and hiker, and passionate about yoga.

With over two decades of legal experience, Kimberly Graber focuses her practice on aviation enforcement, regulatory compliance, and consumer protection law. She brings a distinguished record of fifteen years of public service from the Department of Transportation (Department), where she began as a senior trial attorney, became a branch chief, and most recently served as Deputy Assistant General Counsel in the Office of Aviation Consumer Protection.

As Deputy Assistant General Counsel, Kim led enforcement actions addressing unfair and deceptive practices in aviation, oversaw the development and implementation of major rulemakings addressing economic and consumer protection requirements for air transportation, and managed a team of more than 35 attorneys and analysts.

Kim oversaw hundreds of investigations of airline and ticket agent practices, resolving over 75 cases with cease and desist enforcement orders. She also led the development of aviation consumer protection rules, guidance, and enforcement policies. Kim also led the Department’s first ever privacy review of the nation’s ten largest airlines regarding their collection, handling, maintenance, and use of passengers’ personal information.

Kim provided legislative analysis and technical education regarding aviation economic regulation and consumer protection matters to Congressional stakeholders. Further, Kim directed responses to several GAO and OIG audits of the Department's aviation consumer protection activities. Also at the Department, Kim spearheaded modernization of a key IT system used by the Department for consumer protection and oversight of regulated aviation entities by obtaining $8 million in funding and coordinating a cross-functional team.

Kim's early legal career included discovery, motions practice, and hearings as a litigation associate at a global law firm and handling pro se cases as a law clerk for five judges at the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria. Prior to law school, Kimberly served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Suriname.

Kim's wide-ranging experience has made her a versatile legal professional with a broad perspective well suited to identifying and achieving positive resolutions of disputes, demonstrating compliance, accountability, and integrity to a variety of stakeholders, identifying key regulatory issues and solutions, and resolving enforcement matters.

Patricia Grossi is Head of Carbon Markets and Biofuel Certification at Acelen Renewables, where she leads regulatory, certification, market access, and advocacy initiatives related to Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), low-carbon fuels, and carbon markets. Her work focuses on enabling access to international compliance and premium markets through sustainability certification, regulatory engagement, traceability, and alignment with global low-carbon fuel frameworks.

She works across key international jurisdictions and programs, including Brazil’s Fuels of the Future framework, EU RED III, ICAO CORSIA, ISCC, U.S. EPA/RFS, and CARB LCFS, engaging with regulators, certification bodies, airlines, industry associations, and strategic partners across the global SAF ecosystem. Patricia also supports the development of Acelen Renewables’ integrated SAF platform and carbon market initiatives linked to recovery of degraded pasturelands through macaúba cultivation in Brazil.

With more than 20 years of professional experience across Brazilian and international environments, Patricia brings a multidisciplinary background spanning energy, climate, agribusiness, sustainability, consulting, marketing, data analytics, and entrepreneurship, combining strategic, technical, and stakeholder engagement expertise developed across both corporate and business leadership roles. She holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Science and Policy from Columbia University.

Magdalena Jaworska-Maćkowiak, the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency CEO, has unique experience in transport policy - both national and international. From 2017 to 2023 Magdalena was a member of the Performance Review Body (PRB), an advisory body to the European Commission, focusing on improving the performance of air navigation in Europe in the key areas of safety, capacity, environment and cost efficiency. She moved to the PRB from the position of PANSA CEO, which she first held from 2014 to 2016. Magdalena Jaworska-Maćkowiak has experience gained in the key transport sectors of road and rail. As Deputy General Director of National Roads and Motorways, she was responsible for the largest road construction programme in Poland's history and all major infrastructure projects implemented through public-private partnerships. She is a graduate of the University of Warsaw (international relations) and MBA studies at the Warsaw University of Technology. She also holds a postgraduate degree in European integration - EU law from Maastricht University.

Matthew Kaminski advises businesses and writes on global economic and political affairs. He serves on the Asian executive board of the private equity firm Partners Group as well as World.Minds, the Zurich-based leadership community, and runs the advisory firm EMA. After a decade leading the most important political publications in Brussels and Washington, Matt brings a global perspective to his commentary and analysis. He speaks regularly at investor meetings, to boards and at conferences.

Matt focuses on America’s relationship with the world, the geopolitics around as well as the practical applications of AI and global security and trade policy. Over a 30 year career, Matt has lived in Kyiv, Brussels (twice), Paris, New York and currently Washington. He co-founded POLITICO Europe in 2014 and led POLITICO in Washington in 2018-2023. He won an Overseas Press Club award and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his work at the Wall Street Journal. He writes for POLITICO Magazine on global affairs.

Soon after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Matt moved there to report for the Financial Times on the region. He joined the Wall Street Journal as a Central Europe and later EU correspondent. became an opinion writer in Paris and New York. POLITICO Europe, a joint venture between Axel Springer and POLITICO, quickly established itself as the most influential publication on EU affairs – and one of the most successful media startups of the digital era. In Washington, he oversaw a period of unprecedented growth and journalistic impact for the company. POLITICO now has operations across nine-time zones and publishes in three languages. Its reporting on the pandemic, its “scoop of the century” on the Supreme Court’s draft ruling to overturn abortion rights and its political coverage was recognized by the George Polk, Pulitzer and other awards. Matt led the newsroom through the publication’s sale to Axel Springer in late 2021, in the biggest digital media deal ever.

Chris is currently Director of Flight Operations (DFO) at Cathay Pacific (CPA), a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and a member of the IATA Operations Advisory Council.

He commenced his aviation career in 1980, later graduating as a fighter pilot in the South African Air Force. He enjoyed a brief interlude in corporate aviation before starting his airline career in South African Airways in 1988.

He has spent over 30 years in CPA where he originally flew the Boeing 747 before focusing on the A330, A340 and A350 Airbus types.

Chris is a Senior Training Captain, IRE/TRE, and holds an MSc in Air Transport Management. During his 21 years in airline operations management at CPA he has held roles in flying training, as well as Chief Pilot of the company’s Airbus fleet and as General Manager Flying, with oversight of fleet operations and pilot training. He has been DFO since July 2018 and, having dealt with the exceptional challenges of COVID, Chris and his team are now focused on advancing Cathay’s pilot workforce with a strong focus on diversity and digital technologies to enhance training, resilience and sustainable operations.

A highly accomplished aviation leader with over 30 years of experience in the industry, Con has held leadership roles at some of the world’s most successful airlines including Qantas, Singapore Airlines and most recently, flyadeal, as founding CEO.

Beyond flyadeal, Con has spearheaded several start-up initiatives in Indonesia, Singapore and China. His extensive executive management experience also spans finance, strategy, commercial, alliances, operations, network, branding and marketing, across top global carriers.

Con joined Oman Air as Chief Executive Officer in May 2024.

Rachel Loudermilk leads at the intersection of safety, operational performance, and people. As Managing Director of Inflight Safety and Base Operations at Southwest Airlines, she is responsible for advancing safety, operational reliability, and frontline engagement across a large, geographically dispersed workforce. She oversees Inflight Base Operations supporting approximately 21,000 Flight Attendants, with responsibility for safety, regulatory compliance, and employee experience.

Rachel began her career as a Flight Attendant with Southwest Airlines, bringing firsthand operational insight to her leadership approach. With more than two decades in airline operations, she has built her career in complex, unionized environments, earning a reputation for steady, people-centered leadership during disruption and for building strong labor partnerships that enable resilience at scale. Her experience spans large-scale emergency response operations, leading through the COVID-19 pandemic, and advancing enterprise safety performance.

Rachel is passionate about strengthening safety culture, developing frontline leaders, and building operating models that balance discipline with a deep commitment to people.

When global leaders face crisis or seek new opportunity, they turn to Anita Mendiratta - globally trusted strategic advisor, author, diplomat, and media voice in tourism, leadership, and sustainable development. As Founder and President of Anita Mendiratta & Associates, she brings more than 30 years of experience across 100+ countries, guiding governments, institutions, and business leaders through transformation, recovery, and growth.

Recognized among the “Most Influential Women in Tourism,” “Top 25 Inspirational Executives in Travel/Hospitality,” “Top 25 Executives to Watch in 2025,” and “Top 10 Business Leaders Driving Global Change in 2025,” Anita is known for helping leaders navigate complexity with clarity, credibility, empathy, and purpose.

A respected global commentator in tourism, aviation and crisis leadership, she regularly appears on Al Jazeera, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Euronews, ITV, France24, TRT World and others. Anita is also a multi-published author. Her award-winning book, Call to Leadership explores how leaders can act with courage, clarity, and compassion during times of profound challenge, revealing the human side of high-level decision-making.

Her influence is further reflected through key international roles, including:

• Special Advisor to the Secretary-General, UN Tourism
• Strategic Resource to the World Bank, World Travel & Tourism Council, IATA, Air Transport Action Group, and ICCA
• Trusted moderator and facilitator for high-level government, industry, business, and academic summits
• Founding Advisory Board Member, Royal Commission for AlUla
• Former Special Advisor to the CEO, Saudi Tourism Authority
• Executive in Residence, University of Surrey, UK
• Visiting Professor, Cranfield University, UK

Whenever and wherever Anita takes the stage her goal is simple: to lift the room, to elevate confidence, to create connection, and to help leaders see in themselves the courage and conviction to be the steady hand, the strong voice, and the compassionate heart that others can trust.

Brett is a globally recognised Professor of Human Factors and Aviation Safety at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), School of Aviation. UNSW is the highest-ranked global university (Top 20) with a standalone School of Aviation. With qualifications in both Aviation and Psychology and 20 years at UNSW Aviation, Brett brings together academic excellence, real-world piloting experience as a Commercial Pilot with an advanced aerobatics rating, and a deep commitment to advancing aviation safety for the benefit of society.

As Head of School since 2022, Brett has led UNSW Aviation through a strategic transformation that aligns industry needs with UNSW Science’s broader mission to deliver real social impact. His leadership has strengthened the School’s global engagement and accelerated programmes that prepare future aviation professionals to manage the evolving demands of safe and sustainable air connectivity, especially across regions like the Pacific where aviation is vital to economic growth, tourism, community access and resilience.

Meg O’Keefe is SVP of Airlines for the Americas, (previously Senior Vice President of Airline Product Management at Amadeus).

Meg joined Amadeus 25 years ago, following time with Qantas & British Airways.

She has held numerous senior leadership roles in product management, marketing & sales engineering, and today is responsible for the entire full-service airline product portfolio.

She is both an expert in today's PSS-based solutions and is leading the product vision and execution of the NEW offer and order-based suite of airline solutions for Amadeus Nevio. Key areas within her remit include Airline Traveler Centricity and Loyalty, Digital & NDC, Order Management, Offer Management & Optimization, Partner Collaboration solutions, Revenue Accounting and Revenue Protection amongst others.

With a background in business management and political science, Meg has a particular focus on overall airline business transformation and ensuring that the IT transformation facilitates this in the best possible way.

Her professional obsession is to apply expertise and transformative thought leadership to the creation and deployment into production of best-in-class offer and order airline systems and business capabilities, to enable modern retailing value realization in the industry.

Marie joined IATA in 2022 as Chief Economist. In January 2023 Marie added responsibility for IATA’s Environment and Sustainability activities to her role.

Marie joined IATA from Lombard Odier where she was Head of Global Trends and Sustainability. Her 30-year professional life includes roles for both investment banks and private banks, including HSBC in London, Merrill Lynch in Paris, and Indosuez in Geneva. Outside of the financial sector Marie worked for IKEA, and she also founded and managed her own company in the equine industry.

Marie holds an MBA from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, and a PhD in International Economics from the Graduate Institute in Geneva, Switzerland. She speaks Swedish, English, and French fluently.

> See Marie Owens Thomsen's full bio and photos

Güliz Öztürk started her career at Turkish Airlines. From 1990 to 2003, she served as Manager of International Relations and Agreements, Vice President of Marketing & Alliance Coordinator, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Turkish Airlines. During that time, she managed important projects such as launching the first code-share flights, execution of the alliance projects, launch of the airline’s loyalty and bank card programs and the first website as well as implementation of the online ticket sales. Between 2003 and 2005, she served as Aviation and Tourism Project Coordinator and Director of Human Resources at Ciner Holding.

In 2005, she joined Pegasus Airlines as Head of Scheduled Flights to manage the launch of the airline’s scheduled services. In 2008, she was appointed as Sales Director. Güliz Öztürk assumed the role of Chief Commercial Officer in 2010 and was responsible for the commercial department, which includes Sales, Network Planning, Marketing, Revenue Management and Pricing, Cargo and Guest Experience. She held this role for 12 years and, in May 2022, was appointed CEO of Pegasus Airlines.

Güliz Öztürk is a graduate of Kadıköy Anadolu High School and the department of psychology at Boğaziçi University, and completed the Advanced Management Program at Columbia Business School in 2018. A Member of the Board of Advisors of Özyeğin University’s Faculty of Aviation, Güliz Öztürk, is Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Global Compact Turkiye and is also Co-Chair of the Women in Sales Network (WiSN) social project, which works with the mission of ensuring the balance between men and women in the sales departments of companies, on the Sales Network platform.

Ricardo Pinto is a Chemical Engineer and has a PhD degree in Chemical Engineering from Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. He joined Petrobras in 1985. After a 20-year experience at Petrobras Research Center (CENPES) developping products and processes, including sustainable fuels, Ricardo is now a Senior Specialist in product development in the Marketing Department. Concerning SAF development, he is a member of ASTM Aviation subcommittee and ICAO WG5 (fuel working group).

Richard Quest is CNN's foremost international business correspondent and anchor of Quest Means Business, the definitive word on how we earn and spend our money. Based in New York, he is one of the most instantly recognizable members of the CNN team.

Additionally, Quest is the host of two of CNN International's signature monthly feature programs: Business Traveller, which covers global business travel trends, issues and innovations of the travel industry, and Quest's World of Wonder, an immersive travel series that finds Quest exploring a new destination each month and meeting fascinating people who reveal the heart of the city.

Quest also serves as CNN Business editor-at-large and often hosts the digital live financial show "Markets Now" live streamed from the floor of the NYSE every Wednesday at 12:45pm ET at CNNMoney.com/MarketsNow.

Quest Means Business, which airs weekdays at 3pm ET / 8pm BST on CNN International, destroys the myth that business is boring, bridging the gap between hard economics and entertaining television. CEOs and global finance ministers make a point of appearing on QMB. Guests of the show include the biggest names in banking like Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan Chase, Federal Reserve Vice Chair Richard Clarida and Robert Zoellick, the former President of the World Bank; European policy makers including former IMF chiefs Christine Lagarde and Dominique Strauss-Kahn as well as former EC President Jose Manuel Barroso, and some of the most influential names in corporate America including Microsoft's Satya Nadella, Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey and Hans Vestberg of Verizon.

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to impact economies and businesses around the world, Quest regularly interviews leaders across pharmaceutical, technology, aviation, travel and tourism industries including Operation Warp Speed chief adviser Moncef Slaoui, Moderna chairman Noubar Afeyan, Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, and IMF's chief economist Gita Gopinath.

Quest's dynamic and distinctive style has made him a unique figure in the field of business broadcasting. He has regularly reported from G20 meetings and attends the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland each year. Quest has covered every major stock market and financial crisis since Black Monday in 1987 and has reported from key financial centers globally including Wall Street, London, Sao Paolo, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

In addition, Quest is the established airline and aviation correspondent at CNN. He has interviewed all of the major airline executives including current Delta CEO Ed Bastian, former Delta CEO Richard Anderson, Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker, United CEO Scott Kirby, AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes, Emirates CEO Tim Clark, Virgin Atlantic CEO Shai Weiss and Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury. He has covered a number of breaking aviation stories like the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in Ukraine, the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo crash and the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

Quest is the author of 'The Vanishing of Flight MH370: The True Story of the Hunt for the Missing Malaysian Plane,' which details his unique perspective on covering MH370 for CNN.

Quest is also the face of CNN's coverage of major UK events. He led CNN's coverage of the 'Brexit' vote in 2016, and has continued to report on the impact the historic vote is making on markets, economies and businesses. He used his expert knowledge of the British Royal Family to front the channel's coverage of the 2018 marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle; the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012 live from the banks of the River Thames; and the 2011 marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton, now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

His coverage of breaking news, which has spanned more than two decades, has seen him report on a range of stories from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the death of Yasser Arafat, the Lockerbie Pan Am 103 crash to the death of Michael Jackson. Quest is more than just business; there are few journalists who have had guests as varied, from His Holiness, The Dalai Lama to actress Joan Collins to founder of Playboy Magazine, Hugh Hefner.

The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) awarded Quest the 2013 UNWTO Award for Lifetime Achievement in recognition of his work as a business journalist reporting on the tourism industry.

Prior to joining CNN, he worked at the BBC, where he was the North America business correspondent, based on Wall Street for 12 years.

Quest is British, holds an LLB (Hons) degree in Law from Leeds University, and was called to the Bar.

Nikhil became Chief Executive of Air New Zealand in October 2025. Since joining the airline in 2021 as Chief Digital Officer, Nikhil has overseen the airline's COVID restart programme, major advances in the airline's technology backbone, loyalty programme and customer platforms, driving greater innovation and resilience through a period of significant industry disruption and change.

Prior to Air New Zealand, Nikhil was Chief Digital Officer at Vector Limited, where he led the company's digital and information technology transformation and co-led Vector's smart metering business. Earlier in his career he spent six years with global professional services company, Accenture, across Hong Kong, Australia, and in New Zealand as Managing Director. Nikhil has also held senior technology and transformation roles at Spark New Zealand.

Nikhil holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from the University of Auckland. He is an advisory board member for the University's Centre of Digital Enterprise (CODE) and has previously served on the boards of New Zealand Asian Leaders, Foundation Ventures, and The Auckland Blues Foundation, as well as the AUT AUTEUR Influencer Network.

Thomas coordinates IATA’s global advocacy efforts since September 2025.

Before joining IATA, Thomas was at IBM as Vice President, Government and Regulatory Affairs for Europe, the Middle East and Africa from 2023.

Prior to IBM, Thomas was the founding Managing Director of Airlines for Europe (A4E) and successfully ran A4E from 2016 to 2023.

His experience in aviation and technology extends to aerospace, having spent the seven years prior to joining A4E at United Technologies as President, International Operations Europe, with a focus on government affairs.

Clare Sebastian is a correspondent for CNN based in the network's London bureau, covering international news.

> Read full bio

Dr. Andrew Sellers leads Confluent’s Technology Strategy Group, a team of research technologists, Field CTOs, and customer advisory leaders supporting product and GTM strategy development, competitive analysis, and thought leadership. He also leads Confluent’s global enablement function, assuring excellence for its business and technical field roles. Andrew has previously brought several AI-enabled commercial offerings to market as a technology leader, applying data streaming extensively to ensure application data is well contextualized and current. Data streaming commercial products he designed, built, and delivered have generated tens of millions in revenue. He is an author of dozens of peer-reviewed publications and a co-inventor listed on over 150 patents, primarily related to the application of AI tools to problems in cybersecurity and risk management.

Andrew received his PhD in computer science from the University of Oxford, where his dissertation investigated the use of AI to automate web-scale data extraction. He was the valedictorian of his class at the U.S. Air Force Academy and a Truman Scholar.

Janet Wallace is a seasoned aviation executive with over 32 years of experience at Air Canada. She currently serves as Managing Director of Cargo Operations and Transformations. Her career spans diverse leadership roles across airport services, call centres, inflight operations, customer experience, and cargo. Janet holds a Bachelors degree from McGill University and a Masters of Science in Supply Chain & Transportation Management from the University of Denver.

In her current role, Janet is responsible for global operations and leads strategic initiatives that enhance operational efficiency, customer satisfaction, and workplace quality. She oversees engineering, regulatory compliance, training, and quality assurance teams. She has been instrumental in securing dual CEIV certifications from IATA, reinforcing Air Canada Cargo’s commitment towards international standards of safety and product integrity.

Alexis began his role as Chief Executive Officer of the WestJet Group in February of 2022.

Responsible for the overall leadership of the WestJet Group of Companies, Alexis harnesses the power of WestJet’s people, fleet and technology to strategically position the airline for long-term profitable success.

Prior to joining WestJet, Alexis spent 16 years at the Lufthansa Group, his last role being the CEO and CFO of Austrian Airlines where, during his three-and-a-half-year tenure, he restructured the airline and its network to compete with ultra-low-cost-carrier (ULCC) competition in Austria. In addition, Alexis was instrumental in successfully leading the company through the COVID-19 crisis. Previous roles within the Lufthansa Group included Chief Commercial Officer of Lufthansa Cargo AG, head of commercial at the airline's biggest hub in Frankfurt, and head of strategy and investment management for the Lufthansa airline.

Born in Cologne, Germany, Alexis attended the University of Bonn, where he received his Physics diploma in 1995 and later, completed his PhD at Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in 1999. Alexis spent his early career at The Boston Consulting Group, working out of their Munich and Tokyo offices, with a strong focus on clients from the aviation industry.