Executive Moves: Avianca and NOPB

   Avianca Holdings S.A. CEO Hernán Rincón Lema has notified the board of directors that he plans to retire from the company effective Tuesday.
   Rincón (pictured above) has served as the chief executive officer of the Latin American airline holding company for three years.
   According to an announcement from Avianca, Rincón’s retirement “is aligned with the company’s ongoing long-term strategic and organizational development program, as part of a planned transition. Mr. Rincón joined Avianca to lead the company’s transformation process, which he has successfully accomplished, contributing to Avianca Holdings’ strategic evolution and positioning the company for continued success for the next century ahead.”
   Avianca said Rincón led its digital transformation as well as corporate reorganization and a strengthening of the company’s corporate governance. The company also formed a strategic and commercial alliance with United Airlines and Copa Airlines. Avianca’s Regional Express Americas was created to strengthen Colombia’s connectivity. “And in 2017, the company weathered the longest illegal pilot strike in the history of commercial aviation,” the announcement said.
   “During the fourth quarter of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019, Mr. Rincón executed the most ambitious business transformation plan in the company’s history, enabling Avianca to evolve from a growth model to an operating model focused on profitability and cost efficiency, with a goal of deleveraging and strengthening the company’s financial position to deliver margin expansion,” Avianca said.
   A third-party international consulting firm has been retained to assist in the search for a successor. If a successor is not named prior to Rincón’s departure, Secretary Renato Covelo, acting vice president and general counsel since December 2016, will become interim CEO.

   The New Orleans Public Belt Railroad Corporation (NOPB), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Port of New Orleans, has named Mike Stolzman as its new general manager.
   Stolzman will report to Brandy D. Christian, president and CEO of Port NOLA and CEO of NOPB, a Class III railroad on the nation’s fourth-largest rail gateway that connects with six Class I railroads and serves Port NOLA and local industry.
   Stolzman served as president of the Pacific Harbor Line (Anacostia Rail Holdings), which was named Short Line Railroad of the Year by the American Short Line Railroad Association in 2009 while under his leadership.
   His previous experience includes managing several short line and switching operations as an with Anacostia Rail Holdings, including Louisville and Indiana Railroad and Gulf Coast Switching Company. Stolzman’s Class I experience includes multiple management positions with Union Pacific Railroad and CANAC, a subsidiary of Canadian National Railway.