Speakers
Chairpersons
Gustavo is the Director of Abiax Air Aviation. Before co-founding Abiax Air in 2008, he was the Director of Strategy at the Latin American Airline Association, but also worked developing aviation projects for Canadian government. Before joining the aviation industry he held senior and CEO positions in the financial and insurance sectors within Latin America. Gustavo holds an MBA in Aviation Management from Concordia University, Montreal, a diploma in Sustainable Tourism and a degree in Business Administration. He teaches Evaluation of Investment Projects and Aviation Economics for Latin American civil aviation authorities. A writer, he has also participated in conferences as a speaker, moderator and chairman, and has attended more than 100 aviation and airport events.
Max joined GHI in 2017 after launching and hosting conference and award events in the UK manufacturing industry. A trained journalist, Max strives to deliver innovative content on stage, online or in print that challenges, educates and entertains. As a non-aviation professional - Max is always eager to don the hi-vis jacket and get out on the apron to experience the everyday challenges facing ground handling businesses and their airline customers. Max graduated as a biochemist from Cardiff University in 2001. He became a NUJ/NCTJ accredited journalist in 2003. Max went on to an award-winning 14 year editorial career including stints at magazines in the UK pub, pharmacy and manufacturing sectors. Outside of work - Max is never far from a book, the fridge or the 5-a-side football pitch.
Adriano is a senior executive with more than 20 years of experience in the aviation industry. His knowledge extends through customer service, ground operations, airport development and airport infrastructure in Brazil. His main areas of focus are those of continuous improvement and people management.
Started career in the GSE industry in 1995 as a sales representative for TUG Manufacturing having its facility located in Kennesaw GA US, With a focus on both bag tractors and beltloaders within my early career I worked within the North American sector learning and understanding not only the customer and supplier relationship of the industry but also the many opportunities and challenges of the ramp operation. Our company grew over the years and broadened the product line offering to include both airstarts and pushbacks.
Responsibilities grew and over the years I have learned the GSE industry from a Global standpoint. Currently manage a team covering the Globe and representing the Textron GSE brands including a broad product line up of Towbarless pushbacks and deicers units.
Chris joined FMC (now JBT) back in 1999. Since then, he has worked in different areas within the company including after-sales, marketing and sales. Since 2006 he has been responsible for accounts in Central Europe. In 2007 Chris relocated with his family from Madrid, Spain to Frankfurt, Germany. In 2020 Chris obtained a prestigious Executive MBA from the University of Reading in the UK. Now Chris and his family are based in JBT’s headquarters in Orlando, FL. Here he acts as Region Manager for Central and South America as well as managing strategic accounts in North America.
Desiree is a recognised expert in the aviation industry for her work with leadership teams and individuals on leadership and professional development. Prior to her 16 years in aviation, Desiree lived in Argentina, then Germany, before being relocated to the US in 2011. Desiree served as a senior leader in the aviation industry on a global level, leading multicultural customer excellence teams for some of the most recognised airlines, airports and service providers. During that time she witnessed first-hand the importance of leadership development. Desiree currently speaks on the importance of leadership development in an ever-changing aviation environment, with an increased focus on profitability, customer service and safety.
In 2020, Donna opened the US offices of Kale Info Solutions. She still serves as President and CEO of Mullins International Solutions and Mullins International Academy. Prior to starting Mullins International Solutions, Donna served as Branch Manager for the Atlanta office of CV International. Before this, she was President and CEO of Alpha Sun International. Donna has served in the international transportation community since 1982, where she began as an importer of wholesale merchandise. Upon leaving the import side of the trade, Donna started her career in the brokerage and transportation arena. She has held various volunteer positions including President and Chair of the AIFBA and President and Chair of the AACA. Donna has also held an Adjunct Professor's position with Clayton State University, where she was involved in the Logistics and Supply Chain Management and teaches the ABC of Customs Brokerage as well as other international classes and courses. She also serves on the Advisory Board for the Logistics and Supply Chain Business of College at Clayton State University and Atlanta Technical College.
Executive Director
AEROTECH SUPPORT SERVICES
Ashwani is an expert with almost 30 years of work experience in diverse fields of aviation, ranging from aircraft manufacturing and maintenance to passenger service delivery. Awarded PhD in the field of Aviation Management , "Evaluating Alternative Taxiing Solutions", he has successfully implemented TaxiBot operations at Delhi and Bangalore Airport's In India and assisted Amsterdam Schiphol Airport to perform study of TaxiBot operations . Ashwani worked at Delhi International airport as a Vice President for almost a decade and his accomplishments include the commissioning of new terminals and re-commissioning of old terminals, apart from extensive work on the Airside Aviation Services. Prior to this he worked in various capacities with Kingfisher Airlines, Jet Airways and Damania Airways, overseeing ground and flight operations. Before the airline industry , Ashwani spent time in aircraft manufacturing and maintenance functions. He has also been associated with IATA, being a steering committee member of IATA’s Aircraft Recovery Task Force.
Enrique Vargas, Peruvian, is a Bachelor in Economics from Tampa University (USA), and holds a Graduate Degree in Maritime, Port and Fisheries Administration from ENAM (PERU National Merchant Marine School), graduated from the Advanced Management Program from Harvard Business School and the High Management Program from Universidad de Piura.
He has more than 20 years’ experience in the port and airport industry. He is the director of Andino Investment Holding, a Peruvian corporation with more than 45 years of experience in local and international markets. It consists of 9 companies with national reach covering real estate, financial services, infrastructure, maritime and air services.
Enrique, since his beginnings in the Andino Group, has led two of its main companies Cosmos Agencia Marítima, and Neptunia, as General Manager. He is currently the General Manager of SAASA (Servicios Aeroportuarios Andinos S.A.), a group company providing airport services: ground support, FBO, and storage.
SAASA has a unique and different proposal in the sector, with the aim of covering and adapting to the logistic needs of the air industry, guaranteeing effective, agile, and 100% safe operations.
Head of Procurement - International Airports Contract Specialist
Aeromexico
A lawyer, having graduated from Tecnologico de Monterrey in Mexico, Graciela has plenty of experience in negotiating and drafting contracts within different industries. She has been responsible for ground handling procurement at Aeromexico for over three years. Her IATA Training has included Airline Contract Law, SLA-SGHA Effective Negotiation Behaviours & Procurement and Contracts Management. She formulated the SLA for ground handling services for Aeromexico's SGHA and is responsible for following up on the quality of international services delivered to the carrier.
Head of Fuel and User Changes
ALTA - LATIN AMERICAN & CARIBBEAN AIR TRANSPORT ASSOCIATION
Business Administrator from the Universidad de los Andes in Bogota, Colombia
He returned to ALTA after 12 years to coordinate the Aviation Fuel Committee and the Airport Charges area in the association, based in Miami, Florida.
With experience of more than 30 years in the industry, he has worked in the Civil Aviation Authority of Colombia on three different administrations where he served as Secretary of Operational Systems, Financial Director and Manager of the Eldorado Airport Second Runway Project.
At the headquarters of ALTA (Latin American Air Transport Association) in Miami he served as Special Projects Manager for four years.
At the regional office of IATA (International Air Transport Association) in Miami, he served as Manager of User Charges for seven years.
He also worked as Comptroller and Country Sales Manager for American Airlines in Colombia for five years.
His passion is the history of commercial aviation and airports with emphasis in Colombia and Latin America.
Jaime is fluent in Spanish, English and Italian and has good knowledge of German and French.
Jan joined TCR in 2017 as the Group's Commercial Director, after a broad experience in the aviation industry, having worked for ground handlers and airlines worldwide. He actively contributed to the Group's expansion through Europe, the Middle East and the Asia Pacific. Since 2020, in his new role, Jan has been sharing TCR’s GSE solutions with the North American handling market.
John is the Senior Vice President and Business Development Officer for Bags, a division of SP Plus Corporation (SP+), where he is responsible for Bags growth strategy and client relationships across all business verticals. John manages Bags diversified portfolio on new business objectives with airlines, airports, cruise lines, cruise ports, hotels and hospitality, sports travel services, group travel services, VIP luggage delivery, airline luggage delivery, luggage repair, parking, remote airline check-in, valet services and concierge services.
Prior to joining Bags in February 2019, John was an experienced airline and aviation executive with 33 years in the aviation and hospitality industry, most recently with American Airlines and with previous leadership roles at US Airways and America West Airlines. John was a Managing Director responsible for numerous teams including Customer Relations, Central Baggage, Service Recovery Solutions, Airport Lounges, Customer Planning, Policies & Procedures, Ground Operations, Customer Service and Flight Service.
José Ricardo Botelho is a Lawyer from the Catholic University of Salvador, Brazil with experience in civil aviation and public service.
Prior to joining ALTA, José Ricardo served for 4 years as President of the Brazilian National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) and, for about 2 and a half years, he served as Brazil's Alternate Diplomatic Delegate to ICAO, actively participating in the amendments to the text of the Tokyo Convention in the work relevant to Brazil's entry in ICAO’s Public Key Directory (PKD) and in the systematization of API (Advanced Passenger Information), besides having worked on the rules against acts of unlawful interference (AVSEC) for civil aviation.
José Ricardo holds a postgraduate degree in Criminal Sciences from Jorge Amado University and a postgraduate degree in Public Security Management from the National Police Academy, both from Brazil.
With over 35 years of aviation experience, Larry Massaro comes to Eulen America as the Sr Vice President of Aviation, North America and Caribbean. Prior to Eulen America, Larry has held executive leadership positions in both the aviation service provider and airline sectors of the industry for north of 20 years leading and directing as many as 65 airports domestically and internationally. Specializing in customer engagement, strategic vision , leadership development, performance and contact management.
Passionate about company, employee culture and inclusion.
Michael Bloomfield is the founder of Sage Parts, the leading supplier of replacement parts for GSE. Prior to Sage, Mr. Bloomfield held executive positions at: CAMP Systems, a leading supplier of software systems for aircraft maintenance tracking and record-keeping, parts inventory, and passenger and crew scheduling; Execaire, Inc., Canada’s largest aircraft management company; and Jetway Systems, a leading supplier of passenger boarding bridges, ground power systems, and GSE. Michael also held positions with ground handling companies, GSE manufacturers, and aircraft component manufacturers. He was awarded numerous patents for various GSE and component designs. Michael Bloomfield has served on the IEAMA board since its inception.
Mohit is the Head of Global Business Development and Solutions Specialists in SITA, where he is responsible for covering the Passenger Processing portfolio which entails FLEX, smart path, self-service hardware, and PFM growth strategy along with vendor relationships across all business verticals. Mohit manages passenger touchpoints in the Landside and Airside to enable biometric touchless solutions with airlines, airports, ground handlers, and now also cruise lines.
Mohit has been in the industry for over 15 years creating solutions for Airports such as Common Use Payments, Self Service Kiosks, Self Service Bag Drops, Common Use platforms for Airlines at the Airports.
Mohit holds an MBA in Innovation from the state university of New York and a Master in Computer Science and many other industry-recognized certificates.
Nirmala is Chief Operations Officer at Caribbean Airlines based in Trinidad & Tobago. She leads the following teams, Flight Operations, Inflight, Ground Operations, Quality, Safety, Customer Experience and Enterprise Learning and Development.
A 33-year veteran of the Aviation industry, Nirmala is a solutions driven executive and led key transformational projects for airline mergers, operational restart, fleet Induction and enhanced Customer Experience at Airports. Nirmala holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resource Management from the University of the West Indies; a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration from the Edinburgh Business School in Scotland and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of the West Indies in Trinidad.
Owen has been with Mallaghan since 2000 and holds a degree in Business Administration.
He was initially in the field of product support and after-sales for Mallaghan. In 2010 he took up the position of Sales Director and thus runs the Global sales team for the company. In his spare time he enjoys following sports.
Peter Cerdá is the International Air Transport Association's (IATA) Regional Vice President for the Americas. Globally, IATA represents some 290 airlines or 83% of total air traffic, supporting many areas of aviation activity and helping to formulate industry policy on critical aviation issues.
Based in Miami, Mr. Cerdá oversees 35 countries with 48 member airlines across North and South America, and the Caribbean, driving IATA's global standards and international perspective to deliver maximum value to the safe, sustainable and profitable development of aviation across the region.
Robert is Executive Vice President Cargo for Menzies Aviation, and based in Edinburgh. He re-joined Menzies in October 2017, having spent the previous nine years with Etihad, mostly based in the United Arab Emirates, where he held the position of Head of Cargo Operations, with accountability for hub operations and the global cargo handling network, overseeing significant growth of the airline and its cargo handling business. Prior to the move to Abu Dhabi, Robert’s first tenure with Menzies was a ten year stint in various commercial roles, including global key account management. He learnt the cargo business in his early years with Lufthansa Cargo based at London Heathrow in a number of operational and quality management roles. Robert is a former board member of cargoiQ and a current member of IATA’s Cargo Handling Consultative Council. He holds an Advanced Masters in Airline Operations Management from ENAC University in Toulouse, France.
Ty is the leader for the Dreamlifter Program based out of Charleston, SC. Dreamlifters are a fleet of highly modified Boeing 747-400s (Large Cargo Freighters) that transport major airplane assemblies around the world for the 767 and 787 airplane programs.
Before Dreamlifter, Ty held several senior leadership positions of increasing responsibility in Supply Chain (Contracts & Operations), Factory Manufacturing, Factory Quality, and Quality Business Core/Business Operations. He has extensive international supply chain experience in Asia, Australia, Europe, and South America - including an expatriate assignment in Italy.
Ty has earned degrees in law, engineering, business, public administration, and history.
William has overseen the effective use of technology to transform ground handling operations as well as service of passengers with reduced mobility (PRM) in a wide range of airport sizes including, smaller regional to extremely large airport hubs. An active listener, he strives to understand all the stakeholder’s needs in order to ensure the best possible outcome for everyone involved. William is also the Conference Director of the annual Airport PRM Leadership Conference, a yearly event bringing together management level stakeholders to share best practices, identify operational innovation and a shared vision of continually improving the service for passengers with reduced mobility in airports around the globe.