AIRLINES
David O. King has become director, cargo sales – Americas at United Cargo. King first joined Continental Airlines Cargo in 2006 and served as its senior manager, cargo revenue management from 2008-2010. After a year at an Atlanta consulting firm, King came to United Cargo in 2012 as senior manager, cargo sales strategy and effectiveness. In January 2013, he was appointed to lead United Cargo’s postal network optimization and performance team.
Virgin Atlantic Cargo promoted Ryan Ellis to regional sales manager, Continental Europe. Ellis joined Virgin Atlantic in 2010 as a capacity controller and in October 2010, he was promoted to the cargo sales team as an account manager in the UK. He has 12 years of air cargo experience. Ellis previously worked for ANA Aviation at London Gatwick as a cargo operations executive and, earlier in his career, held customer services and operational positions with Air 2000, Northwest Airlines Cargo and First Choice Airways. Virgin Atlantic Cargo also appointed Neil Vernon as regional vice president sales for the Asia Pacific region. Vernon spent 13 years as part of the bmi cargo team and has gained experience in the European, Middle Eastern, African and South Asian cargo markets. At Virgin Atlantic Cargo, he is based in Hong Kong.
THIRD PARTIES
Georges Azevedo was appointed CFO at Geodis Wilson and will join the board of management of Geodis Wilson, the freight forwarding division of Geodis. Azevedo began his career at AT Kearney and has been with the Geodis Group since 2005. Since joining the company, he has held various positions in finance, previously working as finance director for the industrial project division of Geodis Wilson.
South Florida Logistics Services, an integrated logistics company that provides cargo handling and real estate services, named Robert G. Richter as vice president of business development. Richter comes to South Florida Logistics Services with nearly a decade of international commercial real estate development and brokerage experience. Prior to joining the company, he served as president of Investment Advisory Services in Panama. He was also a founding member and director of NAI Panama, a global commercial real estate services firm based in Panama City, and of GATES Builders, an international construction and development firm.
Walker Supply Chain Management, a global transportation and logistics firm, appointed Giorgio Laccona as COO and partner. A 37-year veteran of the logistics industry, Laccona is well-known and widely cited for his insights on the future of global airfreight and international transportation. As part of his appointment, Walker SCM will acquire Global Ocean Airfreight Logistics (GOAL), the company Laccona launched in 2011. He began his career in freight forwarding in 1976, when he joined the former Air Express International Corp. During his 24-year tenure with AEI, he rose to the post of senior vice president for the Americas. In 2000, when Deutsche Post World acquired AEI, Laccona remained as president and CEO for the Americas of the newly formed Danzas AEI Intercontinental. In 2001, he joined Eagle Global Logistics as COO for international operations, and then became CEO of North America for the Italian forwarder Savino Del Bene. From 2006 through 2010, Laccona helped launch IJS Global, serving as its chairman and CEO, before leaving in 2011 to launch GOAL.
Penske Logistics, a provider of third-party logistics and supply chain management services, appointed Michael Casidy to the newly-created position of managing director of Mexico. Casidy has been with Penske Logistics for 14 years and served in a variety of operational leadership roles. Most recently, he was based in Texas and served as Penske’s distribution center management product line leader for the company’s Western region. In his new role, Casidy is responsible for leading and growing logistics business in Mexico.
Scott Nordstrom has become director of business development at Zenith Aviation, which stocks aircraft parts. Nordstrom, a veteran sales executive, has served as vice president corporate sales and services for AvCraft Support Services, in addition to holding senior-level sales positions with several mining and heavy equipment distribution companies. He most recently was president of the International Trade Group.
Michael Sonnentag joined Purolator International, a provider of cross-border logistics between the U.S. and Canada and a subsidiary of Purolator Inc., as branch sales manager of its Milwaukee, Wis., branch. He is responsible for the management of all sales, business development and branch operations. Sonnentag comes to Purolator from UPS, where he spent five years as a regional account manager. Prior to UPS, he spent 10 years as a business manager at the WHR Group, Inc.
Kuehne + Nagel appointed Marcus Bennett as national manager for its UK organization. He succeeds Yngve Ruud, who will move to the company’s Western Europe headquarters in Hamburg. Bennett’s career with Kuehne + Nagel spans 24 years. He held operational and management positions within air and road freight in Ireland before being appointed national manager, Ireland in 2003.
PASSING
Ludwig Hamburger, AirBridgeCargo Airlines vice president and regional director Europe, Middle East and Africa, passed away Sept. 27 in Heidelberg, Germany, after a short illness. Hamburger was born in 1955 in Frankfurt and initially trained as a wholesale and foreign trade merchant. In 1982, he began his airfreight career at Air Canada in Germany and went on to join Air New Zealand in 1997. There, he acted as the head of air cargo for the UK and Europe until 2008 when joined AirBridgeCargo. The development of the air cargo industry was always close to his heart, and he worked actively for years within the BARIG Cargo Committee, most recently as its chairman.