Travelport Announces the Appointment of Three Additional Non-Executive Directors to its Board

LANGLEY, U.K., Oct. 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Travelport Worldwide Limited ("Travelport") announced today the appointment to its Board of Directors of Elizabeth Buse, former Executive Vice President of Visa Inc. and currently Co-CEO and member of the Board of Directors of Monitise PLC; Michael Durham, former President and Chief Executive Officer of Sabre Group Holdings and currently a  member of the Board of Directors of Hertz Global Holdings; and Douglas Hacker, former Executive Vice President, Strategy of UAL Corporation and current member of the Board of Directors of Aircastle Ltd.

Commenting on the appointments, Douglas Steenland, Chairman of the Board of Directors, said: "We are delighted to welcome Elizabeth, Mike and Doug to our Board, each of whom are seasoned business executives who will bring significant expertise in travel, technology and payments to Travelport's brand.  Under the leadership of CEO Gordon Wilson, Travelport has been transformed from a traditional GDS into a next generation Travel Commerce Platform.  The Company has made enormous progress in leveraging this platform to extend its reach across all components of the travel value chain with its Air and Beyond Air offerings.  We are confident that Elizabeth, Mike and Doug will make strong contributions to the ongoing realization of our strategic plan for the benefit of our public shareholders."

With the appointments, Travelport's Board of Directors now consists of eight members, all of whom, with the exception of the CEO, Gordon Wilson, are independent non-executives. Full details can be found here.

Elizabeth Buse

Ms. Buse is an accomplished international payments' executive, currently serving as Co-Chief Executive Officer of Monitise PLC, a technology services partner for the provision of global mobile banking, payments and commerce networks, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange. Prior to this, she served in a number of roles with Visa Inc. from 1998 to 2014, most recently as Executive Vice President, Global Solutions. In addition, Ms. Buse also served from 2010 to 2013 as Visa's Group President, Asia Pacific, Central Europe, Middle East and Africa. Additionally, Ms. Buse served as Vice President, Strategic Initiatives, Electronic Funds Services at First Data Corporation, a payment systems, electronic commerce and information management company, from 1996 to 1998. 

In addition to her role as Co-Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Buse also currently serves on the board of Monitise. She has previously served on the boards of Artio Global Investors, Inc., a privately-owned asset management holding company, and Vital Processing Services LLC, a privately-owned technology company that provides electronic transaction clearing and settlement services across the U.S.

Ms. Buse holds a bachelor's degree in Spanish linguistics from the University of California-Los Angeles and an MBA from the University of California-Berkeley.   

Michael Durham

Mr. Durham served as Director, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Sabre Group, positions he held from 1996 to 1999. During his tenure at Sabre he led the company's IPO and helped expand its technology solutions throughout the travel and tourism industry. For the sixteen years prior to joining Sabre, he worked at American Airlines where he was CFO from 1989 to 1995.  

Mr. Durham currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Hertz Global Holdings, the holding company for The Hertz Corporation, and Cambridge Capital Acquisition Corporation, a special purpose acquisition company focused on the transportation and logistics industries. With extensive experience in the travel and tourism industry, he has previously served on the Boards of Directors of Hotwire, Bombardier, Inc., Fairchild/Dornier Aerospace Corporation and Northwest Airlines Corporation.

Mr. Durham holds a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Rochester and an MBA from Cornell University. He will chair Travelport's Audit Committee in addition to his other Board duties.

Douglas Hacker

Mr. Hacker is a travel and tourism industry veteran, having previously served as Executive Vice President, Strategy of UAL Corporation from 2002 to 2006. Prior to this, he served as President of UAL Loyalty Services, UAL Corporation's subsidiary focused on e-commerce and frequent flyer program partnerships. Additionally, he has held a number of roles with United Airlines from 1993 to 2000, most recently as Chief Financial Officer from 1994 to 2000, and American Airlines from 1986 to 1993, most recently as Vice President, Corporate and Fleet Planning.

Mr. Hacker currently serves on the Boards of Directors of a number of companies, including Aircastle Ltd., a global commercial jet leasing company; Columbia Funds, a complex of mutual funds; NES Rentals Holdings, a heavy equipment rental company; and SpartanNash Company, a grocery company. In addition, he formerly served on the Board of Directors for Orbtiz, Inc., an online travel company.

Mr. Hacker holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Princeton University and an MBA from Harvard University. He will chair Travelport's Compensation Committee in addition to his other Board duties.

About Travelport

Travelport is a travel commerce platform providing distribution, technology, payment and other solutions for the $7 trillion  global travel and tourism industry.  With a presence in over 170 countries, approximately 3,600 employees and 2013 net revenue of $2.1 billion, Travelport is comprised of:

• A Travel Commerce Platform through which it facilitates travel commerce by connecting the world's leading travel providers with online and offline travel buyers in a proprietary business to business ("B2B") travel commerce marketplace.  In addition, Travelport has leveraged its domain expertise in the travel industry to design a pioneering B2B payment solution that addresses the needs of travel intermediaries to efficiently and securely settle travel transactions. 
• Technology Services through which it provides critical IT services to airlines, such as shopping, ticketing, departure control and other solutions, enabling them to focus on their core business competencies and reduce costs. 

Travelport is headquartered in Langley, UK. The company recently completed its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange and trades under the symbol "TVPT".

Contacts:

Media:
Kate Aldridge
Vice President, Corporate Communications
Tel: +44 (0)1753 288 720
[email protected]

Investors: 
Majid Nazir
Head of Investor Relations
+44 (0) 1753 288 857
[email protected]

SOURCE Travelport Worldwide Limited