Rick Elieson has been promoted to the role of president of American Airlines Cargo, taking over from Jim Butler.

Elieson, who joined American in 1994 on the Japanese desk of the Fort Worth reservations office, will report to Butler, who has taken over as senior vice president – international and cargo, following the retirement of Art Torno.

Commenting on the new appointment, Butler says: “His history in leading large-scale strategic partnerships, pricing and revenue management and complex technology implementations, combined with his goal of building collaborative and empowered teams, is the perfect recipe for supporting the future success of our Cargo division.”

Roger Samways is also being promoted from managing director – global sales and key accounts to vice president – global sales, and Butler says: “Roger is one of our most trusted and valuable leaders in the cargo organisation.”

There will be other management changes, with vice president – customer experience Tim Ahern retiring in April after almost 40 years.

Vice president – Charlotte hub operations Terri Pope will retire in June, and Dec Lee will succeed her, while John Beavers will take over Lee’s previous role as vice president – engineering, quality & training.