Cargo airline Atlas Air names veteran passenger exec as COO

Atlas Air Worldwide, the parent company for major all-cargo airline Atlas Air and aircraft leasing company Titan Aviation, announced Tuesday the appointment of Klaus Goersch as chief operating officer. He will take responsibility for managing daily operations from CEO Michael Steen, who has held both roles since July, when Richard Rolland retired after 24 years with the company.

Atlas Air is a capacity outsource provider for other airlines, logistics companies, shippers and governments. It is the largest operator of Boeing 747 aircraft and effectively controls about 12% of the world’s large widebody freighter capacity.

Goersch is a veteran airline executive, but he doesn’t have specific cargo experience. He has served as chief operations officer at Air India since October 2023. Prior to that he was CEO of NEOM Airlines, a startup in Saudi Arabia that has yet to get off the ground, for more than a year. Goersch was COO at British Airways for three years, ending in March 2020. He also spent 4.5 years as COO of Air Canada and one year on the board of IAG Cargo, the cargo division of British Airways and its sister airlines. He spent 16 years as an executive vice president at the former AirTran Airways, a low-cost U.S. passenger airline that merged with Southwest Airlines a decade ago. 

Goersch, in his spare time, has also run a small real estate firm based in New York since early 2020. He will join privately held Atlas Air in late December with responsibility for Atlas’ global flight, ground and technical operations. His mandate is to enhance operational efficiency while maintaining safety and regulatory compliance, according to the company.