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Amerijet Chief Commercial Officer Eric Wilson abruptly departs

Cargo airline tries to find its footing after restructuring

An Amerijet Boeing 767 freighter is unloaded at Miami International Airport. Amerijet has 11 of the aircraft in its fleet, plus three more it flies for Maersk Air Cargo. (Photo: Eric Kulisch/FreightWaves)

Chief Commercial Officer Eric Wilson has left freighter operator Amerijet International Airlines amid shrinking cargo sales, adding to the turmoil that has engulfed the Miami-based airline for the past year.

Wilson resigned on Friday after three years “to pursue other opportunities,” Christine Richard, senior marketing director, confirmed in an email. But multiple sources familiar with Amerijet’s inner workings say Wilson was dismissed by new CEO Joe Mozzali, who is working hard to stabilize the company, when his contract expired.

Supporting the view that Wilson was pushed out is the fact that the company lost $33 million over 12 months ending with the third quarter of 2023, as reported last week by FreightWaves, and large contracts with the U.S. Postal Service and DHL. Publicly available financial data shows Amerijet revenues fell 10% during the year ending Sept. 30, but the ending of some large service contracts with two of its biggest customers since then has compounded top-line pressure. As chief commercial officer, Wilson was responsible for the sales department.

Wilson spoke with a reporter last week and gave no indication that he had tendered his resignation.


Furthermore, Wilson was hired by Tim Strauss, who abruptly left in October when his three-year contract was not renewed. Multiple sources close to the situation said Strauss did not leave voluntarily, as he and the company implied at the time. The board was unhappy about his management style and decisions to expand the fleet as the air cargo market underwent a rapid cooldown from record demand during the COVID crisis

Among the criticisms privately voiced about Strauss is that he hired several executives who had experience at passenger airlines but not running and marketing dedicated freighter operations. Wilson previously was managing director of cargo sales at Delta Air Lines.

Strauss, it should be noted, stepped into an unusual situation in which his predecessor continued to be involved in some management decisions from his role as executive chairman for safety reasons, leading Strauss to quit after one year on the job in a dispute over power before the then-board persuaded him to stay on.

Some evaporation in business appears to be beyond Amerijet’s control. The Postal Service, for example, is actively working to shift as many parcels from air to ground transport as possible to save money and reduce carbon emissions.


Financial difficulties culminated in January with a rescue from a new investment group and the decision to return to lessors six Boeing 757-200 converted freighters that Strauss had acquired in the prior 18 months.

Since taking the helm, Mozzali has launched an extensive campaign to cut costs, including outsourcing next month the operations of a small road feeder terminal in Atlanta to a third party. The company has also temporarily parked some jets, deferred major maintenance on some aircraft, laid off a handful of workers and instituted a freeze on pilot hiring.

The Amerijet fleet is down to 14 cargo jets from a high of 22 in 2022. Eleven aircraft are under Amerijet’s control and three are owned by Maersk Air Cargo, which contracts with Amerijet for crews and other operational services.

Management’s position to employees and the public is that the restructuring put Amerijet in a solid financial position that will allow it to meet customer expectations.

Richard said Amerijet will conduct an internal and external search for Wilson’s replacement. 

(This story was updated to reflect new information about Tim Strauss’ tenure.)

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Amerijet lost $33M in 12 months, downsizes Atlanta operation

Amerijet feels financial pinch as cargo business deteriorates

Eric Kulisch

Eric is the Supply Chain and Air Cargo Editor at FreightWaves. An award-winning business journalist with extensive experience covering the logistics sector, Eric spent nearly two years as the Washington, D.C., correspondent for Automotive News, where he focused on regulatory and policy issues surrounding autonomous vehicles, mobility, fuel economy and safety. He has won two regional Gold Medals and a Silver Medal from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for government and trade coverage, and news analysis. He was voted best for feature writing and commentary in the Trade/Newsletter category by the D.C. Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He won Environmental Journalist of the Year from the Seahorse Freight Association in 2014 and was the group's 2013 Supply Chain Journalist of the Year. In December 2022, Eric was voted runner up for Air Cargo Journalist by the Seahorse Freight Association. As associate editor at American Shipper Magazine for more than a decade, he wrote about trade, freight transportation and supply chains. He has appeared on Marketplace, ABC News and National Public Radio to talk about logistics issues in the news. Eric is based in Vancouver, Washington. He can be reached for comments and tips at ekulisch@freightwaves.com