Dr. Friesen is an accomplished airline executive. Following an MBA at IMD in Switzerland, Dr. Friesen joined Canadian Airlines in Vancouver. He rose to Vice President, Alliances, following Director level leadership in International Network Planning and Marketing. He restructured Canadian’s international network with a series of profitable alliances with airlines such as British Airways, Lufthansa, American, Qantas, Japan Airlines and Cathay Pacific, and had a key role in the creation of the oneworld alliance.
He was part of the merger team that integrated Canadian Airlines and Air Canada in 2000, after which he relocated to Frankfurt where he was instrumental in setting up Star Alliance Services GmbH, owned by Air Canada, Lufthansa and other airlines. He was VP, Finance and Strategy.
Dr. Friesen spent five years as CCO at Air Malta. His revenue management and marketing achievements attracted international business media attention. He went on to set up a profitable regional airline in West Africa as CEO based on a Lufthansa Consulting business plan.
He returned to Canada in 2013 to turnaround First Air as CEO. Profitability was achieved in 18 months. Shareholder value was quadrupled and the balance sheet was strengthened with little debt and no aircraft leases. The fleet was upgraded and standardized. As Accountable Executive, he strengthened SMS and Quality Assurance, and enhanced the safety culture. In 2018, First Air agreed to merge with its competitor under his leadership.
Just as the airline industry was seeing the green shoots of turnaround after the worst of the Covid pandemic, Valdimir Putin has thrown a wrench into the industry rebound. The share prices of major airlines have plummeted. by Brock Friesen and Horst Findeisen Just like ordinary automobile drivers at the fuel pump, airlines are now [...]
Three months after IATA released its 2020 forecast, the Covid-19 pandemic decimated the airline industry. IATA had optimistically projected the industry’s eleventh consecutive year in the black. Some governments are still hoping that the Covid-19 lock down is a temporary disruption and that national economies can simply be switched on when the “curve flattens.” The [...]
