Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA) appoints Chief Commercial Officer

[lbaspotter]

Just seen on the airports website that Joanna Wild has been appointed the new Chief Commercial Officer of Leeds/Bradford Airport

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https://lba-production.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/About-LBA/Press/lba-chief-commercial-officer-announement---19.07.19.pdf

PRESS RELEASE

July 2019

Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA) appoints Chief Commercial Officer

Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA) has announced the appointment of Joanna Wild as Chief Commercial Officer. Joanna is highly experienced in the Airport and Retail sectors, delivering profit growth, commercial success and customer excellence.

Joanna is highly experienced in the Airport and Retail sectors, delivering profit growth, commercial success and customer excellence.

She joins LBA after working for Thomas Cook Airlines, holding the role of Director – Customer Services, before moving to Thomas Cook Group PLC as Managing Director for UK Retail. Since 2015 she has worked as an independent consultant and held various non-executive board positions.

Reporting directly to Hywel Rees, Chief Executive Officer, Joanna will focus on the strategic commercial priorities for the airport including airline partnerships, commercial offering and passenger experience.

She said: “I am delighted to be joining Leeds Bradford at a very exciting time and look forward to working with the team. Delivering a successful Aviation and Commercial strategy is high on my agenda working closely with airline partners and travel retailers.”

Hywel Rees, Chief Executive Officer, said: “Joanna’s appointment is one of a number of measures we are putting in place to ensure our focus is always on delivering the strategic priorities for the airport, including growth in passenger numbers, route development across regional and international destinations and delivering a high-quality service experience. Leeds Bradford Airport is a major contributor to the local economy and Joanna will help us to work more closely with our key partners including airlines, government and the local business community.”

ENDS

 

[airforced]

I'm hoping that her input doesn't take us in the general direction Thomas Cook have traveled recently! All a bit tongue in cheek really but fingers crossed all the same.

 

[White Heather]

What this does show is that LBA's new owners are taking the airport far more seriously, with a significantly enhanced management team. We have never had so many senior managers at LBA as we have now. If they all do what they are there to do, then the future should be bright - once the terminal is developed. Until then, LBA is just going to tread water.

 

[Finger66]

Nearly as many managers as Bradford City last season! Agree though this maybe some sort of statement of intent. But the proof is in the pudding.............

 

[lbaspotter]

I see the Airports new CCO Joanna Wild gave a nice interview to Airport Business.com website last month.

New Leeds Bradford CCO advancing airline partnerships, commercial offering and passenger experience | Airport Business

An interview with Joanna Wild, Chief Commercial Officer, Leeds Bradford Airport. By Ross Falconer An interview with Joanna Wild, Chief Commercial Officer,

www.airport-business.com

New Leeds Bradford CCO advancing airline partnerships, commercial offering and passenger experience

An interview with Joanna Wild, Chief Commercial Officer, Leeds Bradford Airport. By Ross Falconer

West Yorkshire, with the major cities of Leeds and Bradford, is the UK’s fourth-biggest metropolitan county (pop. 2.2 million) and the region is home to the country’s largest financial and business services centre outside London

View attachment 15378
Joanna Wild, Chief Commercial Officer, Leeds Bradford Airport: “My first priority since becoming Chief Commercial
Officer has been to reacquaint myself with Leeds Bradford Airport and with its operations from both an airline and
retail perspective. Luckily, I benefit from knowing the airport well, having already operated out of Leeds Bradford in
two previous roles.”

The county is also a prominent leisure destination, welcoming 1.4 million international visitors in 2018 to attractions including the Yorkshire Dales and Saltaire (a UNESCO World Heritage Site). The tourism sector is now worth £9 billion (€10bn) to the Yorkshire economy annually.

Leeds Bradford Airport, therefore, delivers vital connectivity for the business and tourism sectors. Leading the continued development of the airport’s strategic commercial priorities, including airline partnerships, commercial offering and passenger experience, is Joanna Wild, who was appointed Chief Commercial Officer in July 2019. Her previous experience includes working for Thomas Cook Airlines in the role of Director – Customer Services, before moving to Thomas Cook Group as Managing Director for UK Retail. Since 2015, she has worked as an independent consultant and held various non-executive board positions.

“My first priority since becoming Chief Commercial Officer has been to reacquaint myself with Leeds Bradford Airport and with its operations from both an airline and retail perspective,” Wild begins. “Luckily, I benefit from knowing the airport well, having already operated out of Leeds Bradford in two previous roles.”

Indeed, Wild’s experiences at Thomas Cook were excellent preparation for her new role, providing a deep appreciation of operating in an airport and retail environment where security, on-time performance and passenger experience are key.

“I have also seen emerging industry-wide trends first-hand,” says Wild. “We’re undoubtedly in an interesting time for air travel as technology and customer tastes are changing fast. We are seeing a greater demand for an all-round, smoother passenger experience, which can be satisfied by investment in smarter technology such as enhanced biometrics to reduce queuing. Similarly, as an industry we need to improve our offering to a wide variety of passengers – whether that is an improved ‘grab and go’ option for business travellers or improved destination experiences for leisure flyers with time on their hands.”

Joanna Wild curriculum vitae
Joanna Wild became the new Chief Commercial Officer at Leeds Bradford Airport in July 2019, reporting directly to Hywel Rees, Chief Executive Officer.
Previous experience:
2015-2019: Independent consultant; various non-executive board positions
2010-2015: Managing Director – Retail, Thomas Cook Group
2004-2010: Director – Customer Services, Thomas Cook Group
1996-2004: Head of Service Delivery, Thomas Cook Airlines
1993-1996: Airport Manager, Thomas Cook Airlines

Leeds Bradford Airport factbox
2018: 4 million passengers
2018 passenger traffic growth: -1%
Q2 2019 passenger traffic growth: +0.6%
Key airline customers: Jet2.com, Ryanair
Number of routes: 70+
Top 5 destinations: Alicante, Dublin, Málaga, Palma de Mallorca, Amsterdam

“Potential for more transatlantic flights”

Leeds Bradford handled over four million travellers in 2018 and passenger numbers remain consistent – figures for Q2 2019 show growth of 0.6%.

“We are very pleased with our performance so far this year, and with several weeks left in the summer season, things are looking positive,” Wild comments. “We’ve recently had some exciting news from our airlines too. Aer Lingus announced an increase in seat capacity by 20% on its Leeds-Dublin route, and Flybe is increasing its Leeds-Southampton service by a third.”

The airport’s proactive route development strategy involves working with its airline partners to develop the right routes, right schedule, and right aircraft for passengers. “We meet regularly to understand their requirements and business strategies. This is one of the major positives of smaller airports, as we have the opportunity for closer, regular collaboration.”

Looking to the long-term, Leeds Bradford is focused on developing the capacity of the airport and frequency of routes, not just adding additional aircraft.

“These new routes are not only the popular sunny holiday destinations such as Majorca and Tenerife, but also cities across the EU for business travellers,” Wild explains. “We are also looking to tap into the potential for more transatlantic flights to the US and Canada during the next year.”

Changing commercial & retail landscape
The airport’s ‘Route to 2030 Strategic Development Plan’ foresees annual passenger numbers increasing from four million to seven million by 2030. A major part of this is a £12 million (€13m) terminal extension – the biggest investment to date by AMP Capital since it acquired the airport in October 2017. This will provide an enhanced arrival experience including significantly larger immigration and baggage reclaim areas, improved departure gate facilities, additional retail and food & beverage outlets, and more seating.

“We’re currently progressing with our detailed design phase and we hope to share exciting news in the coming months,” says Wild.

The terminal enhancements will embrace innovative technologies to transform the passenger experience. Wild asserts that the future of airports is automation. Leeds Bradford already has a number of self-service systems in place, and is exploring facial recognition, enhanced biometrics and mobile phone connectivity to make the passenger journey through the airport as smooth and efficient as possible.

This approach extends to the commercial & retail areas. “Customer patterns change all the time, changing the retail and commercial landscape at airports,” Wild explains. “As part of this shift, we are seeing more demand from customers for a greater ‘destination’ feel at airports. Naturally, I am excited by this and we are exploring ways to fully utilise technology – whether that is bringing online shopping into lounges or allowing customers to pre-book dining experiences in our airport’s restaurants. Both revenue streams – aeronautical and non-aeronautical – are significant to Leeds Bradford. The income that we generate allows us to reinvest into the terminal operations, benefitting all our passengers, partners and staff.”

Another key element of the ‘Route to 2030 Strategic Development Plan’ is improved surface access to the airport, specifically enhancing public transport connections from Leeds and the surrounding region. Reflecting the airport’s investment in new facilities, a new Parkway rail station and three road access improvements have all been proposed to meet the region’s ambitions.

Wild adds that the development of the airport will not only further strengthen it as an important global gateway to Yorkshire, it will also provide passengers with a transformed travelling experience to and from the region. “For the remainder of 2019 and beyond, my focus is on working with my excellent team to continue to improve our passenger experience, introducing new brands and working closely with existing and new concessions.”

 

[a300boy]

Could this be MASSIVE News !

 

[lbaspotter]

Could this be MASSIVE News !

Which bit do you mean @a300boy, surely not the interview it self?

 

[louis_walton]

“We’re currently progressing with our detailed design phase and we hope to share exciting news in the coming months,” says Wild
This could be the massive news...

 

[LBA4EVER]

Im betting the massive news is the terminal development, would not surprise me if there going to rebuild the whole airport or perhaps a much larger plan than the original, hense the reason its all gone quiet? would the ground works that have already been completed support a larger project? or am I in dreamland!

 

[Len Fish]

“We’re currently progressing with our detailed design phase and we hope to share exciting news in the coming months,” says Wild
This could be the massive news...

Which actually means ”we’ve got Darren our work experience lad spending an hour a week designing a new outside toilet on the back of a fag packet for the short stay car park and with a bit of luck he should come up with something within the next five years.”

 

[SNOWMAN]

hi len
oh ye of little faith

 

[Seasider]

I think that we have had the "massive" news. KLM upgrade. Don't forget how organisation hype up news, to get more publicity.

 

[White Heather]

I don't think there was any massive news - period. I have asked LBA management and they know nowt about any massive news, so perhaps we can all get excited about Christmas coming up now, instead. Bah Humbug!

 

[Heathrowflyer]

I'm struggling why AMP is taking so long with the terminal announcement. They've been in charge at the airport, what, 2 to 3 years now, setting their own strategic direction and working on these plans. A new chief exec might mean minor amends or tweaking to the terminal plans but not a complete overhaul. Otherwise it makes the 2 to 3 years that the same company (AMP) have already worked on this with David Laws pointless. So the very earliest this could now happen is winter 2021. There seems to be no hurry.

 

[Heathrowflyer]

Yes agree... and organisations tend to shuffle Executives continually when results aren't being delivered. In terms of sizeable growth, no one investment company, be it AMP or Bridgepoint, seems to have the answer or be able to work out how to overcome the issue of being too near to Manchester. The only smoke from the chimney of the management at LBA so far seems to be an increase in parking charges. And in terms of the announcement window for new routes/airlines that's closing fast for Summer 20.

 

[jw2k]

I see the Airports new CCO Joanna Wild gave a nice interview to Airport Business.com website last month.

New Leeds Bradford CCO advancing airline partnerships, commercial offering and passenger experience | Airport Business

An interview with Joanna Wild, Chief Commercial Officer, Leeds Bradford Airport. By Ross Falconer An interview with Joanna Wild, Chief Commercial Officer,

www.airport-business.com

Interesting quote from this article...

Looking to the long-term, Leeds Bradford is focused on developing the capacity of the airport and frequency of routes, not just adding additional aircraft. “These new routes are not only the popular sunny holiday destinations such as Majorca and Tenerife, but also cities across the EU for business travellers,” Wild explains. “We are also looking to tap into the potential for more transatlantic flights to the US and Canada during the next year."

 

[Heathrowflyer]

These were the goals from an article in June 2018 "Phil revealed goals to increase connectivity to the Middle East, such as Dubai, and business hubs within Europe are on the radar."

 

[Seasider]

As I said before, they are just "hyping" things up, no real substance.

On the other hand, I have managed to get where I have wanted to go via LBA without much fuss either getting through security or finding a seat in the Terminal.

 

[LBAYORKIE]

I wonder how much our new CCO knows about cargo. Looks like thats totally off the radar now.

 

[Bobby Ham]

I wonder how much our new CCO knows about cargo. Looks like thats totally off the radar now.

Suspect that her very limited breadth of experience is what made her ideal for the job.