Air Canada Realigns Sales Organization;

Zeina Gedeon Appointed Vice President, E-commerce, Product Distribution and Sales Development;
Claude Morin Appointed Vice President, Global Sales Management

MONTREAL, Oct. 2, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada today announced the realignment of its Sales organization to better reflect strategic objectives and capitalize on opportunities and markets in an evolving industry environment.

Zeina Gedeon, currently President and CEO, Air Canada Vacations, is appointed Vice President E-commerce, Product Distribution and Sales Development.  In addition to sales development, Zeina will be responsible for the strategy, development and ongoing management of all distribution channels pertaining to Air Canada products and digital touch points (website, kiosk, mobile devices) including the development of any supporting platforms or new functionalities.

"Under Zeina's dynamic leadership, Air Canada Vacations has grown into one of Canada's leading tour operators," said Ben Smith, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer. "Her passion for the industry together with her proven talents and skills make her the right candidate for this role as we work with key distribution partners to create new business opportunities and continue to innovate the way we sell and distribute our product."

Prior to joining Air Canada Vacations in 2006, Zeina held senior positions at Air Canada.  As General Manager, Operations - Tango, she helped launch the separately-branded, low-fare service in 2001 that later became a cornerstone of Air Canada's branded-fare strategy.  Her experience at Tango was further leveraged when she later became Air Canada's General Manager, Network Optimization.

Reporting to Zeina are:
Graham Wareham - Senior Director, Distribution / Customer Direct
Robert Trudeau - Director, Business Development
Anna Buchnea - Director, Passenger Sales, Canada

The head of e-commerce reporting to Zeina will be appointed at a future date.

Claude Morin, currently Vice President, Global Sales is appointed Vice President, Global Sales Management with responsibility for customer and partnership management on a global basis.

"Claude's strong leadership skills coupled with his commitment to relationship management makes him the right candidate for this key role as we position the airline for international growth," said Ben Smith.

Claude Morin was appointed Vice President, Global Sales in 2008. Since joining Air Canada in 1985, Claude has held a number of senior management positions including General Manager, France, responsible for passenger sales and operations functions, Senior Director, Passenger Sales, responsible for all sales generated through the agency distribution network in North America and Vice President, Cargo, responsible for all aspects of Air Canada's cargo activities.

Reporting to Claude are:
Susan Clements - Director, Agency Sales
Gary Cross - General Manager, Europe, Middle East, Africa, India
Laureen Davies - Director, Multi-National Sales
Chris Garton - General Manager, Asia and Pacific
Patrick Khoury - Senior Director, Sales, USA
Kathy Mason - Director, Corporate Sales
Rosanna Panetta - Director, Leisure Sales
Alex Pittman - General Manager, Latin America & Caribbean

Both Claude and Zeina will report to Ben Smith and the appointments take effect immediately.

Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving more than 175 destinations on five continents.  Canada's flag carrier is the 15th largest commercial airline in the world and in 2011 served more than 33 million customers.  Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 59 Canadian cities, 56 destinations in the United States and 63 cities in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico and South America.  Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,356 destinations in 193 countries. In 2012, Air Canada was ranked Best International Airline in North America in a worldwide survey of more than 18 million airline passengers conducted by independent research firm Skytrax.

SOURCE: Air Canada

Isabelle Arthur (Montréal) [phone]
Peter Fitzpatrick (Toronto) [phone]
Angela Mah (Vancouver) [phone]

Internet: aircanada.com