Christoph Abel Email & Phone Number

As the Director of Global Air Sourcing, I manage a team in charge of negotiating global airline contracts on behalf of Carnival's nine brands. Focus areas of my team are incentive agreements, as well as fare programs for Guest, Crew, and Corporate travel. We also oversee Carnival's agreements with the major GDS providers in the US and Europe. Lastly, I oversee Carnival's air sourcing analytics, including the Global Air Travel data warehouse.

Dallas/Fort Worth Area

• Manage and grow a team of five national account managers covering agency partners across North America and oversee a sales territory of $1 billion, while being a trusted advisor to agency partners• Develop the team through constant feedback, coaching, clear goals and performance metrics, and by vigorous training of new account managers • Outline and execute AA’s strategy in the tour operator and cruise line market globally by working closely with customers, joint business partners and internal stakeholders, focusing on data and driving outcomes • Lead across work groups to enhance the cruise customer connecting experience in London Heathrow by effectively communicating with stakeholders and presenting clear and impactful data• Define Leisure Sales efforts in launching new airline partnerships as an enterprise, such as Alaska Airlines, jetBlue, GOL and Qatar Airways, implementing a multitude of new fare products•Execute key strategic initiatives, such as NDC implementation, by deep-diving into the materials and ensuring that account managers have the tools and knowledge needed to be successful

Dallas/Fort Worth Area

• Coordinated American’s activities with equity partner China Southern Airlines by planning and executing joint Executive Level Summits, cross-departmental activities and measuring partnership success• Launched a close commercial cooperation with China Southern Airlines by building consensus with internal stakeholders and overcoming technical and organizational hurdles • Enhanced the customer experience by implementing American’s codeshare agreement with China Southern covering 100+ daily flights, as well as launching joint Frequent Flier and Lounge agreements • Led efforts to strengthen partnership with Japan Airlines through negotiating a fair and equitable revenue sharing agreement, expected to have a significant positive impact on American’s bottom line

Dallas/Fort Worth Area

• Defined American’s strategic approach and developed American’s response to the Government’s GSA FY2018 RFP by analyzing historic data and forecasting, and determined American’s bid on 60,000+ O&Ds• Presented to Senior Leadership on multiple occasions and built consensus on strategic goals• Managed American’s contract with the US Government by collaborating frequently with other departments and facilitated the US Government’s travel needs globally

Dallas/Fort Worth Area

• Managed AA seat inventory on all 20+ daily London flights in close coordination with Atlantic Joint Business partners by utilizing and improving communication and effectiveness across teams • Defined Leisure Channel strategies by coordinating with joint business partners and Sales and effectively communicated and implemented strategic changes, aimed at strengthening revenue performance

Dallas/Fort Worth Area

• Evaluated existing upgrade products for both legacy carriers, identified similarities and differences, and recommended changes to harmonize products across both airlines, which greatly supported the daily work in the entire department• Analyzed average Coach and Business Class fares in all international markets and determined new pricing structure and fare rules for upgrades, projected to have a significant positive revenue impact• Developed a method to systematically analyze products that are in risk of displacing passenger revenue by analyzing the revenue impact of promotional tickets from a displacement standpoint and recommending changes to this product, which would lead to significantly increased revenue

Scottsdale, Arizona

• Analyzed and implemented cost reduction measures resulting in a decrease of SG&A expenses of over 50%• Created an Excel tool to better determine the economic feasibility of new solar systems through extensive research of client data which increased sales by 30%• Set up budget plans by applying extensive knowledge of financial modeling and analyzing long term market outlook, effectively determining business development• Introduced controlling mechanisms and designed monthly financial reports as well as forecasts which strongly supported executive decision making• Drafted a business plan for a start-up company enabling it to acquire financing by projecting prices, conducting a sensitivity analysis and introducing risk management

Frankfurt Am Main Area, Germany

• Conducted competitor analysis to better determine the market environment and to evaluate the likelihood of proposed strategic changes to be implemented• Created a fleet rollover plan including related investment and operational planning by fundamentally modifying an existing fleet planning Excel database, improving the planning process substantially • Evaluated large amounts of data through working on numerous projects and prepared Power Point presentations for the Lufthansa Executive Board

Master Of Business Administration (M.B.A.), Global Management, Graduated With Honors

Bachelor'S Degree, Aviation Management

Economics/ Airline Management/ Aviation Intelligence/ Aviation Accounting & Finance/ Yield Management/ Network Management/ Aviation Law.