TEMPE, Ariz., Jan. 21, 2013 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ –Today US Airways (NYSE: LCC) announced that John Gustafson has been named vice president, eCommerce, Mobile and Distribution. In this new position, Gustafson will oversee the company’s online channels, including usairways.com, third-party travel agencies and global distribution systems. Gustafson will remain based in Tempe and continue to report to Andrew Nocella, senior vice President, Marketing and Planning. He recently started his new position.
[quote]”John is a proven leader who brings a wealth of online distribution experience to US Airways,” said Nocella. “With the growing importance of eCommerce to our revenue stream, we are pleased that he will lead our work to create products and services designed to increase revenue during all stages of the travel experience before, during and after flight, regardless of the medium used to book the travel transaction including traditional desktop, smartphone, or tablet technology. These ancillary sales opportunities, beyond the initial booking phase, include GoGo WiFi and Choice Seats on an iPhone application.” [/quote]
Gustafson began his career with US Airways in 2010 as Director-Distribution Strategy and most recently served as Managing Director, eCommerce, Mobile and Distribution. During his tenure, he led US Airways’ mobile efforts, including launching the airline’s current mobile website and coming iPhone/Android applications. Gustafson also championed the design and user experience strategy across all digital channels and has initiated new distribution strategies that have delivered significant annual cost savings to US Airways. He led the use of the US Airways internal usability and design team, which has improved the customer experience across all channels, particularly by launching improved and more tablet/mobile-friendly designs on the web, mobile and kiosks. Through his negotiation of new agreements with online travel agencies, Gustafson delivered significant distribution cost savings to US Airways. In addition, he initiated new distributions strategies, which has driven usairways.com channel share to an all-time high. The channel share improvements deliver millions of dollars in distribution cost savings while increasing the opportunity to drive incremental ancillary revenue.
Prior to joining US Airways, Gustafson spent 12 years in positions of increasing responsibility at Northwest and Delta Air Lines, most recently as director, Distribution and Internet Strategy.
Gustafson earned his Bachelor of Science in Business, with honors, from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management.
[box type=”tick”]About US Airways
US Airways, along with US Airways Shuttle and US Airways Express, operates more than 3,000 flights per day and serves 198 communities in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe, the Middle East, the Caribbean, Central and South America. The airline employs more than 32,000 aviation professionals worldwide, operates the world’s largest fleet of Airbus aircraft and is a member of the Star Alliance network, which offers its customers more than 21,900 daily flights to 1,329 airports in 194 countries. Together with its US Airways Express partners, the airline serves approximately 80 million passengers each year and operates hubs in Charlotte, N.C., Philadelphia and Phoenix, and a focus city in Washington, D.C. at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Aviation Week and Overhaul & Maintenance magazine presented US Airways with the 2012 Aviation Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) of the Year Award for demonstrating outstanding achievement and innovation in the area of technical operations. Military Times Edge magazine named US Airways as a Best of Vets employer in 2011 and 2012. US Airways was, for the third year in a row, the only airline included as one of the 50 best companies to work for in the U.S. by LATINA Style magazine’s 50 Report. The airline also earned a 100 percent rating on the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality index for six consecutive years. The Corporate Equality index is a leading indicator of companies’ attitudes and policies toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees and customers.[/box]