Gerard DELOCHE, President
Gerard Deloche has a long and distinguished career in the Air Transportation Industry.
He has worked for nearly 30 years in the top echelons of UTA and then Air France.
He headed the Air France and UTA Africa & Middle East Profit Centers, as well as Cost Centers such as Organization & Data Processing Centers for both Companies, the Ground and Flight Operations Centre at UTA and the CDG Hub Center at Air France where he acted as Project Director.
Gerard has extensive expertise in Fleet-Network Planning, Pricing, Revenue Profitability, Flight & Network Profit Margin, Hub specifications and daily routines, Safety and Security procedures, Alliances between Airlines and Advanced IT applications.
In 2002, Gerard founded GD Consultants (SAS Wellingo) which rapidly gained a solid client-base benefitting from consultancy in his highly specialized and extensive expertise. GD Consultants has since grown to include further specialists in the aviation field, thus covering every aspect in the aviation & transport industries.
Gerard holds a Doctorate in Automation from The University of Grenoble, a Masters in Computer Science from the University of California (UCLA), and a graduate of the Harvard Business School.
Gerard is Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur and Chevalier dans l'Ordre National du Merite.
Jerome MAILLET, VP Finances & Economics
Jerome began his career as Associate in the Aircraft Finance Division of the French Bank - Societe Generale - before creating an aviation consultancy firm in 2001: Airline Consulting and Development (ACD).
Until recently, Jerome was the Financial Advisor to the President & CEO of the aviation arm - Aqeeq Aviation Holding- of the Kuwaiti Funds Al-Aqeelah Leasing, Finance & Investment, which takes strategic or majority participations in various aviation-related ventures in the Middle-East and Asia including airlines, aviation academy and MRO. Jerome has especially drawn up the airline business plans and supervised the launch of two airlines. He acted as acting CEO for one of the airlines.
Jerome has acted as Advisor to the Shareholders of several companies: (i) he worked for TMA, a privately owned Lebanese airline, on the restructuring of the carrier and was in charge, in cooperation with the CEO, of setting up a viable turn-around plan; (ii) he advised the Chairman of the newly formed Kuwaiti National Cargo Airline LoadAir, establishing the Business Plan and Investment Prospectus (in preparation of an IPO); (iii) he collaborated with the Founder / Key Shareholder of the Nigerian Start-up airline ARIK Air on its financial and operational planning.
Jerome has an Aeronautical Engineering degree from the Ecole Nationale de l'Aviation Civile (ENAC) - the French Civil Aviation School - and a Master in Business Administration from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, the leading American Aviation College.
Alain DEVIENNE, VP Operations & Maintenance
After a few years spent in Africa, Alain starts his carrier in 1981 in the air transport within UTA Industries, the MRO branch of the UTA airline. There, he takes over different functions which will give him a complete overview of the environment and requirements of the aircraft maintenance activity: production, quality assurance, IT Systems.Afterwards, he brings his experience to Air Littoral, a french airline located in Montpellier, then to Aeroconseil which provides services to the air transport community (lessors, airlines, MROs) and is located in Toulouse.
Within Aeroconseil, for some years, he is managing aircraft transitions between operators (aircraft return and redelivery) then he becomes responsible for Business Development of all activities relating to airlines.
From 2008 onwards, he is dealing with consultancy activities which made him doing various audits in airlines, managing IOSA registration and AOC (Aircraft Operator Certificate) issuance projects, participating in feasibility studies for setting-up airlines and MROs.
These activities have mainly developed in Africa which gives Alain a sound knowledge of the African continent. Amongst other projects, he has been working along with Air Burkina, Trans Air Congo and Air Burundi.
As of today, Alain has accumulated 32 years of experience in air transport. Initially trained as an ICAM engineer, Alain has recently followed training sessions qualifying him as ”IOSA-Auditor” and “SMS Expert and Risk Assessor”. This training was delivered by an IATA-approved training organization.
Catherine COLBUS, VP Pricing & Revenue Management
Catherine has a long career at Air France and Air France/KLM, with 24 years in this company; recently, she also worked for car rental industry, at Europcar.Catherine is a specialist in Pricing and Yield Management, domains in which she held several operational positions during her career. In 1995, she had the opportunity to be part of Air France’s team which created Pricing and Yield Management department project, and participated to the différents steps within this project, from first Pricing and booking classes actions, organization definition, key performance indicators introduction, and up to information systems development;
Catherine was Pricing and Revenue Management Vice President for several years.
In this department, Catherine also had the occasion to negotiate and put in place different partnership agreements with other airlines (namely, code-share agreements on some routes, Joint Ventures creations and Air France’s merger with KLM) and also with American Express (Business cards as well as Leisure cards).
Catherine also had an experience in Sales domain (Operational Marketing France Vice President). This job, together with her know-how in Pricing and Yield, gives her the capability to properly manage the different aspects of product’s creation : from definition, appropriate pricing and to sales part supported by communication/promotion action plan and sales people pitch.
For Catherine, Yield Management is not a question of sophisticated tools to be developed only for large companies ; it’s rather “keep it simple” thanks to first easy steps to be put in place et which already allow to increase revenue. Motivated by the desire to share her long experience, Catherine helps companies to move up in Pricing and Yield Management, and thus to boost their revenue.
Catherine has a Statistical Engineering degree from the ENSAE Paris Tech (National School of Statistics and Economic Administration) and a Master in Economics (Aix Marseille II University).
Olivier de MAROLLES, VP Fleet and Network
Over the last past 25 years, Olivier has accumulated expertise and a wide experience as a manager in the air transport sector in a very international environment, in the areas of development strategy and fleet management in particular.
At the Institute of Air Transport - consulting firm - where he began his career, Olivier develops considerably the consulting activity in Africa, with several airports and airlines.
In 2001, he moves to the position of Quality Manager-SGS at Heli Union - a company providing air public transport services with helicopters to oil & gas groups in Africa, Middle East and Latin America -. In 2002, Olivier develops the first Safety Management System for a French air carrier to meet the requirements of customers, and then becomes Director of Operations from 2003.
He takes the position of Director of Flight Operations and Chief Operating Officer Deputy of Aigle Azur in 2007 and participates in the strong development experienced by this company in the late 2000s on the VFR market - Algeria, Portugal, Morocco, Tunisia, Mali, etc. - and charter.
In 2011, within the French private group Regourd Aviation - working primarily in Africa in the fields of business aviation and customized air transport solutions to companies - Olivier holds the position of Executive Director and is in particular in charge of the structuring and coordination of the support services, but also of the development of the activity and the fleet management. In this framework, he manages and supervises the creation of two new subsidiary airlines of the Group - in Cameroon and Slovenia - as well as the introduction of several aircraft of different types.
Olivier reintegrates Aigle Azur in 2015, as Secretary General, where he is more particularly in charge of the development of the company and the supervision of IT. Untill January 2018.
Olivier graduated from the National School of Civil Aviation (ENAC) and obtained a Master in Business Administration from EM Lyon. He is fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
Edo FRIART, VP Low Cost Carriers & Airports
Edo started his aviation career promoting Paris-Beauvais airport and Ryanair airline in France. He then participated in two important projects of low-cost airlines in France (Flyeco; BestAir) as Route Network and Marketing expert and extensively dealt with various key actors including one of the fastest growing european low-cost airlines, largest industrial distribution groups and private equity funds. At the same time, he successfully launched Airjobs.fr, one of the growing airport staff training company in France. He has retained the position of Deputy Manager. He still owns a strategic stake and supervise the marketing and commercial strategy of the company.
Specialized in sales, marketing and routes developments, he joined the spanish low-cost carriers Vueling Airlines in early 2007 as Manager France in charge of opening and developing the french market and the Paris base with three brand new A320 aircraft.
During 2008/2009, Edo was Commercial Operations Manager at CityJet Airlines, a regional subsidiary of Air France – KLM and main operator at London City Airport. Edo was in charge of marketing, charter flight management and operation control in line with Air France commercial policies.
Since 2010, Edo was part of the founding team of Volotea, the low-cost airline of small and medium-sized european cities, which started to operate on the 5th of april 2012 with an extensive network of 84 routes between 55 cities. Today Edo is French Development Manager for Volotea, France being one of the key market of the airline.
Edo holds a Master degree in Marketing, Logistics and Transports from l'Ecole Européenne des Transports in Paris.
Georges AMOUSSOU, Delegate for IVORY COAST / BENIN / TOGO
Georges has held important and strategic functions at Air Afrique.He is the main Negotiator (1971 – 1989) of Airlines Commercial Agreements (revenue pooling, joint venture flights, block space) concluded by Air Afrique with :
- European airlines (Swissair, Sabena, Lufthansa, Iberia, KLM, Alitalia, UTA, Air France...)
- African airlines (Ethiopian airlines, South African Airways, Nigeria Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Air Guinée, Air Mali, Air Mauritanie, Air Sénégal.)
- Others (Panam, Varig, Middle East Airlines...)
- Permanent Secretary (1976 – 1984), jointly with Gerard Deloche who was then in charge of these questions at UTA, of the UTA/Air Afrique Board of Directors
Georges becomes Director International Affairs, Adviser to the Director General, Vice President Marketing and Commercial.
Georges is an authority in the fields of Traffic rights and Civil Aviation. He maintains close links, as VP, with Multinational Committees composed of Civil Aviation Directors. He attends all meetings related to air transport organized by regional or sub regional African Organizations (Yaounde treaty, CAFAC, ECA, ECOWAS, UEMOA, CEAC/CEMAC, etc.)
In 2002, Georges launches OLIZAIR, a company specialized in air transport services, especially in Airlines Representation, Training and Consulting.OLIZAIR is established in Côte d’Ivoire, Benin Republic and Togo with the ambition to extend to other West and Central African countries.
Jacob CABINDA, Delegate for GABON
Jacob starts his career in the Airlines Business in 1983 by joining the SWISSAIR team in Libreville as Sales and Ticketing Agent.In 1984 studies at " Université Lumière Lyon II ".
In 1987, with his Postgraduate Diploma he spends 3 months working for SWISSAIR in the cargo field at Lyon Satolas Airport.
In 1988, back to Libreville, he joins Air Gabon in 1988 as Sales Executive.
In 1995 he is appointed Commercial Director. He becomes Cargo Director in 2003.
He takes part to the creation of Gabon Airlines in 2006 and becomes General Manger of Gabon Airlines Cargo the same year.
In 2009 he creates his own company, COREX International, in the cargo business (Sales, Charter, Ground Handling, Warehousing etc...)
Joaquim Albino VIEIRA, Delegate for ANGOLA
Joaquim has a 36 years strong experience in the airlines business acquired whitin TAAG National Airlines. Very briefly, Joaquim holds the following functions : 1978- 80 : TAAG Representative in Portugal
1981- 84 : TAAG Commercial Director in Luanda
1985- 88 : TAAG Representative in Portugal
1989- 92 : TAAG CEO’s « Chef de Cabinet » in Luanda
1993- 98 : TAAG Commercial Director for Angola Air Charter (Cargo subsidiary of TAAG)
2001- 02 : Advisor to the TAAG President of the board
2003- 07 : TAAG Representative in France and Benelux
2010- 13 : Consultant in Angola
