After less than a year at Norwegian, Marty St. George will be departing the European low-cost carrier and head to South America, where he will be joining Chile-based LATAM Airlines Group in the role of Chief Commercial Officer starting from October 1st.
LATAM gets a new CCO
Marty St. George will assume the role of Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) at LATAM Airlines Group starting from October 1st, 2020. The executive will be heading to the South American airline after a brief stint as interim CCO at Norwegian.
At an executive level, Marty St. George will be heading to the airline during a time of restructuring. This will undoubtedly be one of the most exciting posts Mr. St. George has held in his over 30 years of experience in the airline industry.
At LATAM, Mr. St. George will lead the airline’s commercial team. Some of his core focus areas include sales, marketing, network development, alliances, LATAM Pass (the airline’s frequent flier program), and cargo.
Who is Marty St. George?
Marty St. George is an airline executive with a long resume. Back in December, he joined Norwegian as interim CCO, where he worked on the airline’s fleet, pricing, and network restructuring program.
Before that, one of his most memorable posts was back at JetBlue in the United States. He served for 13 years at the airline, including spending some time as the airline’s Chief Commerical Officer. One of his crowning and lasting achievements at JetBlue was the creation of the carrier’s well-loved Mint lie-flat business class product that can be found on transcontinental and select leisure routes and will, one day, be flying transatlantic routes.
Before that, he held positions at United Airlines and US Airways. His experiences throughout the industry include marketing, pricing, network management, customer experience, product, alliances, frequent flier loyalty programs, and e-commerce divisions. Before entering the aviation industry, he received a degree in Civil Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
How can he help LATAM?
LATAM filed for bankruptcy back in May amid one of the worst crises in aviation history. With the situation continuing to worsen in Latin America and the further continuation of closed borders, LATAM has had a tough time finding passengers to fill its planes. However, the airline’s cargo business has been quite busy helping to keep supply chains in the region moving and flying in medical equipment from abroad.
With all of his experience, Marty St. George will be back in a full-service carrier after over a decade with low-cost airlines, though JetBlue has become more of a hybrid airline in recent years.
Working with South America’s largest airline, Marty St. George will likely be focusing, along with the rest of the LATAM Airlines Group team, on navigating the company out of its restructuring, driving towards further profitability, while ensuring the airline remains competitive in South America and implements a joint venture and comprehensive partnership with Delta Air Lines.
Are you glad to see Marty St. George join LATAM? Let us know in the comments!