Event Speakers

Michèle Barre joined Transat in 2017 as Vice-President, Network, Revenue Management and Pricing. In January 2023, she was appointed Chief Revenue Officer. Her main mandate is to ensure revenue growth and network development. Michèle has more than 25 years of professional experience in the aeronautical industry, mostly at Air France-KLM. Throughout her career at Air France-KLM, Michèle has led teams in several departments, such as revenue management, pricing, and network planning. She also held the position of Vice-President, Corporate Strategy for the Air France-KLM Group. Her career has been marked by many major achievements, including her contribution to the development, and strengthening of Air France’s long-haul network. She also played a key role in the merger of Air France and KLM management and pricing sectors, successfully developing numerous strategic partnerships and alliances within the group and taking part in the start-up and development of Air France’s regional subsidiary. Michèle is an engineer and graduate of the École Supérieure d’Informatique in Paris, an establishment specialized in telecommunication and information systems engineering. She obtained an MBA from the Air France-KLM joint management program in Lausanne, Switzerland.

José Ricardo Botelho is a Lawyer from the Catholic University of Salvador, Brazil with experience in civil aviation and public service. Prior to joining ALTA, José Ricardo served for 4 years as President of the Brazilian National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) and, for about 2 and a half years, he served as Brazil's Alternate Diplomatic Delegate to ICAO, actively participating in the amendments to the text of the Tokyo Convention in the work relevant to Brazil's entry in ICAO’s Public Key Directory (PKD) and in the systematization of API (Advanced Passenger Information), besides having worked on the rules against acts of unlawful interference (AVSEC) for civil aviation. José Ricardo holds a postgraduate degree in Criminal Sciences from Jorge Amado University and a postgraduate degree in Public Security Management from the National Police Academy, both from Brazil. José Ricardo is fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, English and French.

Peter Cerdá is the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Regional Vice President for the Americas. Globally, IATA represents some 290 airlines or 83% of total air traffic, supporting many areas of aviation activity and helping to formulate industry policy on critical aviation issues.

Based in Miami, Mr. Cerdá oversees 35 countries with 48 member airlines across North and South America, and the Caribbean, driving IATA’s global standards and international perspective to deliver maximum value to the safe, sustainable and profitable development of aviation across the region.

He advocates with Government authorities, safety regulators, airports, and industry stakeholders to create a common approach to utilize aviation as an engine of economic growth and social development, which drives nearly USD$1.3 trillion in GDP and generates 16.4 million jobs in the Americas Region.

Mr. Cerdá is also IATA’s major shareholder for Cargo Network Services (CNS) in the United States, and a member of the Executive Boards of Colombia’s Air Transport Association (ATAC) and Mexico’s National Chamber of Air Transport (CANAERO).

Mr. Cerdá possesses a wealth of industry experience acquired over 30 years in aviation. He has worked in various functions for IATA and started his aviation career with Iberia Airlines prior to joining IATA in 1996. Fluent in English and Spanish, Mr. Cerdá was born in Spain and received his master’s.

Mr. Tracy Cooper is the Managing Director of Bahamasair Holdings Limited having been appointed to this position in October 2016. Moreover, he is an Aviator of over thirty-six (36) years with most of his time dedicated to Aircraft Maintenance and the airline’s major projects (i.e. Aircraft Heavy Maintenance and Aircraft Acquisition). His training includes:

• Bahamas Department of Civil Aviation Aircraft Licence – Airframe & Powerplant Maintenance
• FAA Airframe & Powerplant Licence (Alabama Aviation & Technical College)
• Associate Degree – Aircraft Maintenance Technology (Entreprise State College)
• Bachelors Degree – Aeronautical Engineering (Parks College, St Louis)
• Masters Degree – Business Administration (University of Miami)

Mr Cooper has worked his full aviation career at Bahamasair and has been a part of the Senior and Executive Management team for twenty-eight (28) years.

Mercy has a degree in Communication Sciences from Universidad Catolica Santa Maria La Antigua in Panama City, with extensive experience in corporate communications and public relations, working both in the media and in private companies. She joined the aviation world by working at Copa Airlines for almost 10 years where she held roles in different areas such as External Communications, Marketing, Internal Communications & CSR, and Sales. She joined ALTA in 2020 with a focus on attracting new members highlighting ALTA’s value proposition, and strengthening the work with current members, as well as leading the partnerships strategy.

Rafael Echevarne is the Director General of Airports Council International – Latin America and the Caribbean (ACILAC). Previously he was CEO of Montego Bay Airport, Jamaica, and held positions in international organizations and airport companies in Europe, Australasia and the Middle East, specialising in airport economic regulation, privatisation and infrastructure and business development. Rafael holds a PhD in Air Transport Economics from Cranfield University, UK.

Patrick is the Founder and Managing Director of Altair Advisory, a specialist aviation strategy advisory and consulting firm focusing on airline network strategy and aviation sustainability. Patrick has over 20 years of aviation-industry experience across senior commercial roles in the airline, airport and aircraft leasing sectors, as well as a background in strategy consultancy: Patrick studied Computer Engineering at Trinity College Dublin and Carnegie Mellon University in the USA, and also holds a MSc in Air Transport Management from Cranfield University in the UK and a MBA from Purdue University in the USA.

Mr. Gurwicz is a Vice President at Campbell-Hill Aviation Group. He has more than 14 years of travel industry experience encompassing international network planning, revenue analysis, and airline business development. Mr. Gurwicz has experience working for both legacy and low-cost carriers. As a Consultant, Mr. Gurwicz manages a portfolio of airport and government agencies in Latin America, Caribbean, and Europe. Before joining Campbell-Hill, Mr. Gurwicz worked at Iberia Airlines as a Business Development Manager leading its North American division. Prior to that, Mr. Gurwicz worked for Southwest Airlines as a Business Consultant developing its international network.

Pedro Heilbron is CEO of Copa Holdings (NYSE: CPA) and Copa Airlines, which offers service to 79 destinations in 32 countries in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean from its Hub of the Americas at Tocumen International Airport in Panama City, Panama. Heilbron joined Copa Airlines in 1988.  Under his leadership Copa established the Hub of the Americas in Panama, the most successful hub in Latin America, negotiated a successful alliance with Continental Airlines, now United, took the airline public in 2005 and launched Colombian Ultra Low Cost airline Wingo in 2016. One of the leading airlines in Latin America, Copa has received several prestigious international awards, including most recently the “Most punctual airline in the world” award (OAG, 2018) and the “Most punctual airline in Latin America” (CIRIUM, 2021). Heilbron currently is a member of the Chair Committee and Board of Governors of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), member of the Advisory Board of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and member of the Executive Committee of Star Alliance. He graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., with a bachelor’s degree in economics, and earned an M.B.A. from George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Camilo Martelo has served as Spirit’s Director of International Stations for five years. In this role, he leads the carrier’s growing international service across 33 airports in 16 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In this role, Camilo is directly responsible for station operations, international government relations and business development for these airports. He first joined Spirit in 2007 as the Manager of Airport Services Training, and later served as the Manager of Policies and Procedures & Systems, earning him a deep understanding of the airline’s operations. Prior to joining Spirit, Camilo held management roles at American Airlines. Camilo is a Board Member of the Spirit Charitable Foundation. He earned a Master of Business Administration in Aviation (MBAA) from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. 

Víctor Pacheco Méndez is one of the most inspiring Dominican entrepreneurs of his generation. From a very young age Victor showed a connection with the business world, the result of the close mentoring of his grandfather Víctor Méndez Capellán, a Dominican businessman who made important contributions to the development of the Dominican Republic. Pacheco completed his elementary studies at the Carol Morgan School and his secondary studies at Riverside Military Academy in Georgia. He subsequently graduated at Santo Domingo’s Universidad Iberoamericana with a degree in business administration. His work experience in the financial and banking sector has made him an international executive with extensive knowledge in aviation industry, international business, strategic planning, airlines, and business strategy, fintech and technology development. Pacheco is the founder and CEO of Arajet, a project with over 10 years in the making that combines his previous ventures Dominican Wings and Fly Cana to establish a world-class airline for the Dominican Republic and the region. Arajet was launched in September 2022 with the support of prestigious aviation investors Bain Capital and Griffin Asset Management, and enters the market as the newest low-fare airline in the Caribbean, operating a fleet of five new Boeing 737 MAX 8 and offering direct flights from its base in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, to 17 destinations in 11 countries, including Mexico City and Cancun in Mexico, Guatemala, San Salvador, and San José in Central America; Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Barranquilla and Cartagena in Colombia, Quito and Guayaquil in Ecuador; and Aruba, Curacao, St. Marteen, and Jamaica in the Caribbean.

Mike Reynolds joined the travel industry 8 years ago to fulfil his passion for aviation. He worked for bmi and then shortly afterward Icelandair in Sales & Marketing positions before joining Skyscanner’s Commercial team 5 years ago. While at Skyscanner he’s worked on several B2B initiatives which have seen their content redistributed across some of the world’s largest travel brands. More recently, in the last couple of years Mike’s team has worked closely with Airports, Airlines and Destinations globally by providing them with Skyscanner’s travel insight data – helping shape the future of our industry.

Vagner is the Airline Strategy Director for the Americas.  He is responsible for monitoring and anticipating the region’s trends in the airline industry and communicating Embraer's strategy solutions. Vagner has almost 20 years of experience at Embraer. His career began as a Product Development Engineer during the E-Jets program launch.  His other roles included Sales Engineer for Executive Aviation, where he supported sales of over 100 business jets and experience with Structured Finance, sourcing financing solutions for airlines. He also managed marketing and communication activities for commercial aircraft lessors. Prior to his current position, he was a Senior Airline Business Consultant in the Market Intelligence Department responsible for network and fleet plan analysis, supporting aircraft sales campaigns around the globe. Vagner holds a master’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering from ITA (Instituto Tecnologico de Aeronautica), and an MBA in Finance Management from FGV (Fundação Getulio Vargas). Vagner lives in São Jose dos Campos, with his wife and two sons.

A graduate of Ecole Polytechnique (Paris) in 2001 and the French National University of Civil Aviation (ENAC in Toulouse) in 2003, Pierre-Hugues has also spent one year in UC Berkeley as a graduate student in transportation engineering. Pierre-Hugues worked at the French CAA for 7 years, 3 of which is the head of the French Airlines Department (2006-2009). From 2010 to 2012, Pierre-Hugues was working as an advisor to the French Transportation Minister.

He then joined Aéroports de Paris as deputy director of the Le Bourget division. In 2014, along with three partners he founded La Compagnie, a scheduled airline based in Paris delivering pure business class service to New York.

Pierre-Hugues joined VINCI Airports in June 2017 where he supervises the airport business expertise on air service development, extra aeronautical activities and airport operations.