Airline retailing technology company ATPCO has named Brett Burgess its new president and CEO.
The seasoned travel industry leader steps into the head role after serving as general manager of Jeppesen ForeFlight, which was previously a Boeing company. He also served as chief product officer for Jeppesen, later becoming general manager, and held leadership roles at Sabre and Bain & Company.
Burgess learned about ATPCO's place in the industry while at Sabre, when ATPCO was the airfare data source for Sabre's shopping product.
Now, Burgess sees airline retailing in a period of transformation, and he told PhocusWire that he plans to use his past experience to navigate that.
“I think the perspective that I have—that I think perhaps is a little unique or new—is [that] it's not just about pricing and revenue management,” he said.
“Passengers, yes, they care about what the price is, they care about what the ticket price is. What they really care about, though, is whether they get to the point, the destination that they intend to go on this time schedule that they expected.”
He plans to bring this holistic perspective to ATPCO and the industry as a whole, focusing on the bigger picture of airline operations and traveler commitment.
“I think that aligns pretty well with some of the moves ATPCO has made in the last several years, the acquisition of Routehappy, 3Victors,” he said. “I'm really excited to get in and learn a lot more about what ATPCO’s intended strategy is and the state of affairs of the company.”
Burgess will be based in Denver and takes the reins from interim CEO Vince Palmiere. Palmiere, formerly CFO, stepped in on a temporary basis when CEO Alex Zoghlin departed the company in June. Zoghlin has since become CEO of Duetto.
“Brett’s the right leader at the right time to guide ATPCO forward. He brings with him a rare blend of innovation focus, operational rigor and deep industry expertise,” Karen Slinger, chair of the ATPCO board of directors, said in a release.
“He understands that delivering value to airlines and travelers requires balancing innovation with operational trust and reliability.”