ACL Airshop appoints James Harris as Chief Executive Officer

The Board of ACL Airshop has appointed James W. Harris as Chief Executive Officer. Harris joined the company in November 2021 as Chief Financial Officer and has since led the transformation of its finance function while gaining strong familiarity with operations, business development and strategic initiatives.

ACL Airshop is a global provider of air cargo Unit Load Device (ULD) logistics solutions, serving more than 200 airlines, air cargo carriers and other transportation clients.

The company thanked Bernhard Kindelbacher for his contributions during his two years as CEO. During his tenure, he helped strengthen ACL Airshop’s global footprint, expand its full ULD management offering, secure key ULD management contracts across several markets and advance digital capabilities through the Localization+ initiative. He will continue to support the company as Senior Advisor during the transition period.

Harris began his career as a Certified Public Accountant and spent more than nine years with PwC before moving into industry roles. He later served as CFO of Forum Energy Technologies, helping grow the business from $25 million in revenue to $1.7 billion through organic growth and more than 20 acquisitions. He was also part of the leadership team that took the company public on the New York Stock Exchange.

He also served as CFO of Pacific Drilling S.A., where he executed a capital restructuring before merging the business with Noble Drilling. Harris holds a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting and a Master’s degree in accounting and taxation from Brigham Young University, along with an MBA from Rice University.

ACL Airshop is a portfolio company of funds managed by Astatine Investment Partners. Jim Metcalfe, Board member of ACL Airshop and CEO of Astatine, said the firm looks forward to working closely with Harris to grow and enhance the business. He noted that Harris brings finance, capital markets and strategic planning experience, along with a strong focus on business development and operations.

Harris said he has enjoyed working at ACL Airshop and supporting the air cargo industry by supplying critical equipment for freight transport. He added that he is proud of the company’s global team and looks forward to continuing the partnership with Astatine in his new role.

ACL Airshop owns, maintains and manages more than 100,000 ULDs, including air cargo pallets and containers. These are issued from 55 airport hub locations across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Latin America. The company maintains what it describes as the largest independent inventory of lease-ready ULD assets in the industry for short-term solutions and also offers longer-term multi-year ULD management contracts.

Astatine is an independent mid-market private equity firm focused on infrastructure investments. Founded in 2005 as Alinda Capital Partners and rebranded in 2022, the firm invests in the digital, transportation, utility-related and essential services sectors.

One year into his role as Chief Financial Officer at ACL, James Harris spoke to The STAT Trade Times in an interview recorded at the TIACA Air Cargo Forum in Miami in 2022.