AIRLINES
Cathay Pacific Airways announced that Chief Executive John Slosar will succeed Christopher Pratt as chairman of the airline in March 2014. Slosar will also take over as chairman of John Swire & Sons Ltd, Swire Pacific Ltd, Swire Properties Ltd and Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Co. Ltd. Ivan Chu, now the airline’s COO, will take over as chief executive when Slosar becomes chairman. Pratt joined the Swire group in 1978 and by his retirement, he will have been chairman of the group in Hong Kong and of Cathay Pacific Airways for eight years. Slosar joined the Swire group in 1980. He became chief executive in 2011 and is also chairman of Swire Beverages Ltd. and Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Ltd. Chu joined Cathay Pacific in 1984 and has worked with the company in Hong Kong, mainland China, Taiwan, Thailand and Australia. He is also chairman of AHK Air Hong Kong Ltd.
Nagakazu Sagara joined AirBridgeCargo Airlines as vice president, Japan and Korea. Katsuhiko Sagami, former vice president/area director, Japan and Korea, will continue to work as mentor and coach for the region until the end of the year. Sagara has a 40-year career in the cargo industry. He joined Japan Airlines following his graduation from Kagoshima University, progressing from a cargo traffic manager to senior vice president, export. In 2010, he joined TAS Express, a Toyota affiliate, as executive strategist, and later, following the purchase of the company by Mitsui-Soko Express in 2012, became deputy general manager.
MANUFACTURERS
CSafe Global, a producer of mobile refrigeration units for life sciences, health care, military and international disaster relief agencies, appointed Edwin Visser to its team of CSafe Global sales directors in Europe. Visser will support CSafe’s new business, CSafe Global Cooperatief UA, located at Schiphol. He has more than 20 years of sales, operations and implementation experience in the freight and logistics industry. Visser has worked for companies such as KLM and Kuehne + Nagel. In his new job, he will be responsible for Eastern Europe, including Austria, Italy, Netherlands, Germany and Poland.
THIRD PARTIES
Bruce Hulings became global vice president for projects, mining and energy at UTi Worldwide Inc., a global supply chain services company. Hulings will be responsible for all business development and implementation that will drive UTi’s growth in the projects, mining and energy sector. He has 25 years of oil, gas and logistics experience. Prior to joining UTi, Hulings was the Americas vice president, energy sector for CEVA Logistics. Mike Valentine became the new regional sales vice president for the Americas. Valentine joined UTi in 2009 as director, supply chain design and innovation. In 2012, he was named regional vice president, automotive Americas. Prior to joining UTi, he worked for General Motors’ global supply chain.
Logistics company C.H. Robinson Worldwide appointed Ivo Aris to director of global forwarding for C.H. Robinson Europe. Aris’ focus will be to lead the continental growth and advancement of the global forwarding division, including setting the Europe global forwarding strategy. A 20-year industry veteran, Aris has worked in sales, operations and management at Road Air, which was acquired by the Rhenus Group in 2007. He became the country manager for air and oceanfreight for the Netherlands. In addition, Aris is chairman of the Dutch Airfreight Forwarders’ Association.
Detlef Trefzger has become CEO of Kuehne + Nagel. Trefzger has been a member of the Kuehne + Nagel management board since March and has been responsible for contract and integrated logistics. He will continue to be responsible for contract and integrated logistics until further notice. Prior to joining Kuehne + Nagel, Trefzger was on the executive board of Schenker AG, Essen, Germany, from 2004 to 2012.
DHL Freight appointed Marc Bernitt as head of customs management. He will be responsible for the global development of DHL Freight’s customs business. Bernitt has more than 27 years of experience in foreign trade, customs law and international supply chains and extensive expertise in customs management. He has held various management positions during his career, among them with Archer Daniel Midland and Olympus Europe. Most recently, he managed the trade & customs practice at KPMG Switzerland.
Doug Walls has become COO of FreightCenter, a Florida-based freight shipping company. He will lead FreightCenter’s efforts to expand its products and services, which includes the development of freight management software for third-party logistics providers. Walls has been managing the company’s infrastructure and technology development for the past eight years.
AMI, a trade-only airfreight wholesaler, appointed Richard Marquez to the newly-created position of general manager, operations for its U.S. business. He returns to AMI after a two-year break. Marquez has spent 17 years in the air cargo industry, most recently with Final Mile Logistics as director of West Coast operations, where he set up its Los Angeles base, enhanced its overseas network and worked on securing major government contracts. Prior to his latest position, Marquez spent 15 years with AMI and its predecessor UAC.
Damco, a third-party logistics provider, appointed Samuel Israel as regional CEO for the Latin America region. With more than 30 years of experience in the logistics industry, Israel has served as country manager for Mexico at Danzas and as CEO for DHL Global Forwarding Latin America for 12 years. Prior to working in Latin America, Israel held various commercial and operational roles in France before making the move to Latin America in 1999.
David Schenk became business development vice president at SBS Worldwide, a specialist in supply chain services. Schenk will focus on promoting the company’s freight forwarding and logistics services throughout the U.S. Midwest. He has worked in international transportation since 1996. Before joining SBS Worldwide, he worked for Geodis Wilson based in Chicago. Prior to this role, Schenk also worked as a visiting professor at the University of Utah’s Department of Economics and as a lecturer at the University of Colorado’s School of Business and its Department of Economics. He was also a consultant with RCG/Hagler Bailly of Boulder, Colo.
Richard Denhart, a sales and marketing executive with more than 20 years of experience in air and multimodal transportation, joined Purolator International as district sales manager of its Southern U.S. district. Purolator International is the leading provider of cross-border logistics between the U.S. and Canada. Denhart’s experience in the transportation industry includes employment at DHL, Nestle Direct Store Delivery, Forward Air and American Airlines Cargo.
AIT Worldwide Logistics appointed Ria de Bok as its country manager for The Netherlands. Based out of the recently founded European flagship office in Amsterdam, de Bok brings 22 years of sales and operations experience to the role. After earning a master’s degree in Japanese language and culture, de Bok started her professional career with Nippon Express. She worked in sales with Nippon, BAX Global and EGL. She then served as operations manager with Bellville Rodair before accepting her new position with AIT.