Effective 1 April 2023, Karen Cox was appointed CEO for the UK & Ireland region. Andres Diez takes on the role of Chief Commercial Officer for the Americas
Swissport, the world’s leading aviation services company, makes two key changes to its executive team. Karen Cox, formerly Global Director of Operations & Safety and Co-Head of UK and Ireland, assumes the role of CEO for the group’s UK & Ireland region. Andres Diez, Director of Global Commercial, becomes new Chief Commercial Officer for the Americas, taking on the task of driving top-line business growth and improving profitability across the US, Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Both appointments became effective on 1 April 2023.
“Karen and Andres have both made significant contributions to Swissport since joining the company in 2021,” says Warwick Brady, President and CEO of Swissport International AG. “As we put all our energy into taking the company to the next level of global service excellence, we also want to further commercialize our offering across countries and regions, especially for airlines operating worldwide. With Karen and Andres, we had top candidates from within our own ranks who have the skills and experience to help drive the business forward on this path.”
Karen Cox reports to Warwick Brady, President & CEO of Swissport International AG. As she takes up her new role as CEO of Swissport’s UK & Ireland region, she is stepping down as Director of Global Operations & Safety. This post will be taken over ad interim by Richard Male, Global VP for Ground Handling. Karen joined Swissport in October 2021. She has been driving the implementation of more consistent operations and safety practices and more robust processes across Swissport’s global organization. In September 2022, Karen additionally took on the role as Co-Head UK & Ireland to drive operational excellence and prepare the regional organization for the post-pandemic travel peaks. Prior to joining Swissport, Karen was with easyJet for 18 years, most recently as Director of Ground Operations and Customer Management Centers.
Andres Diez reports to Frank Mena, CEO of Swissport’s US & Canada region, and to Rene Pascua, CEO of Latin America & the Caribbean. Andres joined Swissport as Director of Global Commercial in September of 2021. Until a successor has been appointed, he will also continue to serve Swissport in this capacity. Andres has established Swissport’s new, globally aligned commercial processes along with tools to accelerate business wins and increase the retention rate of existing business. In addition, he was instrumental in deploying the company’s Key Account Management program.
In his new role as Chief Commercial Officer Americas, Andres, who is of US and Spanish-Venezuelan background, will focus on further strengthening the US & Canada business as well as Latin America & the Caribbean — two key regions, which together account for some 40 percent of Swissport’s global business. Andres has more than 20 years of experience in business development and financial planning and has worked for major logistics organizations such as DHL and most recently GXO Logistics.
