Swissport revamps organisation structure

Dec 03, 2018: In order to ensure faster decision making, ground handling firm Swissport International AG has decided to consolidate its existing regional structure from nine to three management regions. These will be EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa), Americas (USA, Canada, Latin America) and APAC (Asia-Pacific).

The revamped structure, that is effective January 1, 2019, is part of a scheduled succession plan.

The new EMEA region will be managed by Luzius Wirth, currently executive vice president UK & Ireland and member of Group Executive Management. Glenn Rutherford, presently in charge of Swissport in Australia and New Zealand, will be heading up the greater Asia-Pacific region (APAC). Joe Phelan, currently Group chief operating officer, will temporarily head the Americas Region, until a permanent internal or external candidate is appointed. The three regional heads on Group executive level will report to Eric Born, president & CEO of Swissport International AG.

Joe Phelan, Group chief operating officer, and Nils Pries Knudsen, Group chief commercial officer, will retire in the first half of 2019. All other managers on Group Executive level remain in their current roles.

Simon Messner, currently senior vice president Europe, will assume the role of executive vice president “Performance & Innovation” on Group Executive level. In this role, he will drive Operational Standards, manage Quality, Health, Safety and Environmental standards and oversee Commercial Governance. Future Product Development, Innovation and Fleet Management will also fall under the scope of this new unit, contributing towards a lean and effective setup at the Zurich headquarters. This new role will ensure that Commercial Governance is managed consistently at Group level.

The regional heads will replace the chief operating officer on Group level.

The responsibilities of the chief commercial officer will largely move to the regional level for closer client relationships and market proximity.