James Hogan (businessman)

James Hogan
AO FRAeS
James Hogan at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, 2010
NationalityAustralian
Occupation(s)Founder and Chairman of Knighthood Capital, former President and CEO of Etihad Airways

James Reginald Hogan, AO, FRAeS is an Australian airline executive. Between 2006 and mid-2017, he was the President and CEO of Etihad Airways, one of the national airlines of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).[1][2] He was also the CEO of Gulf Air.[3]

Early life and career

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James Hogan grew up in Melbourne, Victoria, and attended Ivanhoe Grammar School, graduating in 1975.[4]

James Hogan began his career in 1975 at Ansett Airlines as an ordinary employee including check-in assistant. He subsequently held senior positions with Hertz Corporation, where his roles included directorships of the marketing, sales, and operations divisions. In 1995 he joined the London-based executive management committee as Vice President of Marketing and Sales for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. In 1997 Hogan became service director for British Midland International (BMI), leaving in 1998 to join the Granada Group as worldwide sales director, where he sat on the board of Forte Hotels. He returned to BMI in 1999 as chief operating officer, where he was responsible for flight and ground operations, sales and marketing, commercial, cargo, engineering and handling service companies; he was a member of the board of directors.

In 2001 Hogan moved back to his native Australia, where he was appointed chief executive of the Tesna consortium, which was created with the aim of acquiring Ansett Airlines from administration.

In May 2002, he joined Gulf Air as CEO. In December 2002 he instigated a restructuring and turnaround programme in response to a drastic fall in profits and increasing debt. Gulf Air recorded a profit of US$4 million in 2004 before returning to losses.[5] He resigned his position in July 2006 and left Gulf Air at the end of September.[6]

CEO of Etihad Airways

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On 10 September 2006, he was appointed president and CEO of Etihad Airways, the UAE flag carrier based in Abu Dhabi. He oversaw Etihad's rapid growth to serving 86 passenger and cargo destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Americas, operating a fleet of 120 aircraft.

Etihad reported its first full-year net profit in 2011, of $14 million, in line with its strategic plan goals announced in 2006. In February 2013 the airline announced a net profit of $42 million for 2012.

He oversaw Etihad's strategy of creating a network through acquisitions of minority stakes in other airlines, specifically Air Berlin (29.21%), Air Seychelles (40%), Aer Lingus (2.987%), Virgin Australia (24.9%), Air Serbia (49%), Darwin Airline (33%), Jet Airways (24%) and Alitalia (49%).

On 27 April 2016 Etihad reported a net profit of US$103 million for 2015.[7] In May, the management structure was reshuffled, as Hogan became CEO of the airline's parent company, Etihad Aviation Group. Peter Baumgartner, formerly the airline's Chief Commercial Officer, became CEO of the airline, reporting to Hogan.[8] In December Handelsblatt Global reported that Hogan was going to be dismissed after a "failed spree of acquisitions in Europe."[9]

On 24 January 2017, the Etihad Aviation Group Board of Directors announced that Hogan (along with Group CFO James Rigney) would be stepping down "in the second half of 2017".[10] Peter Baumgartner, (former CEO of the airline), became the acting CEO of the group as it faced mounting losses from its investments in Air Berlin and Alitalia.[11] On 2 May 2017 Alitalia filed for bankruptcy.[12] Hogan and Rigney left Etihad later that month.[13] On 27 July Etihad reported a loss of US$1.873 billion for 2016.[14] On 15 August Air Berlin filed for bankruptcy after Etihad withdrew its financial support.[15] Etihad reported a net loss of US$1.52 billion for 2017.[16]

Hogan is now the founder and chairman of Knighthood Capital, based in Switzerland.[2]

Affiliations and awards

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Hogan is a fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and a former non-executive director, and member of the board's Audit Committee, of the Gallaher Group. In 2010, he served as the chairman of the Aviation Travel and Tourism Governors at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He currently serves on the executive committee of the World Travel and Tourism Council. In June 2011 he was appointed to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Board of Governors.

CEO Middle East magazine named him Aviation CEO of the Year in 2008 and Visionary of the Year in 2010. He won the CAPA Airline Executive of the Year 2012 Award at the Centre for Aviation's global awards for excellence and leadership in 2012.

In the Australian 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours List, Hogan was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO).[17]

References

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  1. ^ "James Hogan". Etihadairways.com. Archived from the original on 28 November 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
  2. ^ a b Buller, Alicia. "'I would do nothing different': Former Etihad CEO James Hogan says he has 'moved on'". ArabianBusiness.com. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  3. ^ "The Flight Interview: Gulf Air CEO James Hogan - revival of the sickest". Flight Global. 30 May 2006. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  4. ^ alumni (9 May 2019). "Mr James R Hogan AO '75". OIGA. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  5. ^ "The Flight Interview: Gulf Air CEO James Hogan - revival of the sickest". Flightglobal.com. 30 May 2006. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  6. ^ David Kaminski-Morrow (9 October 2006). "Former Gulf Air chief James Hogan to head Etihad Airways". Flightglobal.com. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  7. ^ "Etihad Airways reports $103 million profit for 2015". Reuters. 27 April 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  8. ^ "Etihad Airways' Hogan to Lead Wider Group in Management Shake-Up". Bloomberg. 8 May 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  9. ^ Sonke Iwerson; Jens Koenen (20 December 2016). "Etihad hadert mit Europa". Handelsblatt. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  10. ^ Stanley Carvalho; Victoria Bryan (24 January 2017). "Etihad Airways says veteran CEO James Hogan to step down this year". Reuters. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  11. ^ Deena Kamel; Richard Weiss (24 January 2017). "Etihad CEO Hogan to Go as It Battles Losses at European Partners". Bloomberg. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  12. ^ "Alitalia to Start Bankruptcy Process as Workers Spurn Bailout". Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg. 24 April 2017. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  13. ^ Dan Reed (10 May 2017). "Airline Chess Master? Did Etihad's James Hogan Outsmart Himself?". Forbes. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  14. ^ "Etihad Airways Reports Net Loss For 2016 One-Off Impairments Impact Bottom Line While Passenger Revenues Remain Stable". Aviator. 27 July 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  15. ^ Victoria Bryan; Maria Sheahan (15 August 2017). "Air Berlin files for insolvency after Etihad withdraws support". Reuters. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  16. ^ "Etihad Airways blames rising fuel prices, costly investments as it stays in the red". Reuters. 14 June 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  17. ^ "Officer (AO) in the General Division of the Order of Australia" (PDF). www.gg.gov.au. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2017.

Further reading

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