We're a small company with very big relationships...

Michael Smith, Managing Partner
Michael was formerly a board Director of British Airways Global Financial Services Limited. This included responsibility for developing mileage sales with partners such as American Express, GE Insurance, Avis Car Rental and bringing onboard all the brands within InterContinental Hotels and Resorts portfolio.

Early on in this role, Michael recognized that real value could be delivered by BA (and other airlines) by understanding what customers were actually buying. It was more than just an airline seat, many of them wanted a “one stop” shop for the products ancillary to the flight. As a result, BA developed in-depth relationships with many of its Executive Club partners that delivered more benefits to passengers than just miles. It also delivered an additional multi-million pound revenue stream to BA on the back of these ancillary sales.

Prior to joining BA, Michael was the Marketing and Administration Director for the Financial Services Division of Great Universal Stores plc (at the time, the UK’s largest mail order company with 6 million customers.)

He is based in Glasgow, Scotland where he graduated with an MBA from the University of Strathclyde Business School as well as having professional qualifications in Marketing and Banking from the UK’s Chartered Institute of Marketing and Chartered Institute of Banking respectively.

Christopher Staab, Managing Partner
Over the years Chris has gained a masterful reputation for developing and organizing aviation-related conferences. He heads Airline Information's acclaimed Conference divison where he oversees the engineering of new events and on-going operations of the company's yearly event portfolio, business development and sponsor relations.

Chris began his career in the airline industry as a Tariff Analyst at ATPCO in Washington D.C. and later worked as an Aviation Analyst at the U.S. Department of Transportation and as Manager of Revenue Management at Amtrak.

Prior to co-founding Airline Information, Chris worked as a Business Development Manager at IATA in both Miami and Geneva, Switzerland. At IATA, he organized dozens of airline conferences around the globe and assisted airlines worldwide to rationalize their fare structures. Chris holds B.A.'s in Business Administration, History and Latin American Studies from the University of Pittsburgh. He speaks fluent Spanish and is a certified Meeting Planner.

Ruben Wertheimer, Regional Director, Latin America  
Ruben represents Ai’s diverse interests in the Latin America region including serving as chairman of the groundbreaking CILA “Airline Profitability Conference”.

Ruben also serves as CEO of MS&W Latin America, a PR agency focused on the travel and tourism industry with many active airline, hotel, travel agency, and GDS clients. Ruben has chaired and presented at several marketing, sales and distribution conferences for the tourism industry in Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Paraguay, Chile, Venezuela, Uruguay and Germany. Ruben is an expert in developing airline crisis communication planning and management.

He was formerly a member of the staff of Lufthansa in the Buenos Aires office, responsible for the marketing and sales area.

Prior to joining LH , Ruben lived in Germany where he was based in Essen where he worked for Ferrostaal AG as an international sales rep. He began his carrier in Buenos Aires at Siemens Argentina as trainee and sales rep.

Ruben is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He studied Business Administration and holes a Master in Strategic Marketing. He speaks fluent Spanish, German and English, married and father of two sons.

James Pearson, Market Research
James manages Ai’s extensive database of airline professionals working in commercial roles globally. Monitoring tens of thousands of professional profiles as well as identifying personnel turnover and airline start-ups is standard daily operating procedure for James. He works closely with Ai’s conference and consulting divisions which depend on the most extensive and up-to-date professional airline database around.

James is passionate about everything to do with low-cost carriers, particularly ancillary revenue; costs, productivity and efficiency; network planning; and low-cost terminals and airports. His analysis on Ryanair has recently been published in Airliner World and his regular blog posts can be found on LoadFactor.org.

Prior to joining Ai James worked in the hospitality industry for 4 years. He is currently completing his BSc in Air Transport Management at Loughborough University and plans to read for his MSc Air Transport Management at Cranfield University beginning in the Fall of 2011.

Patrick Murphy, Snr. Corporate Advisor
Patrick "Paddy" has advised Ai since the company's inception in 2004. His mentoring relationship with co-founder Chris Staab goes back even further. In addition to his advisory role with Ai Paddy is also Chairman of Aviation Performance Consultants - the aviation division of Performance Consultants International, Performance Consultants Ireland, Performance Consultants Switzerland, and Director of Cargo Mentoring Services Ltd.

Paddy has over thirty years’ experience in the airline industry, including Chairman of the Board of Ryanair - the low cost airline; and more recently as Director of Corporate Development with IATA, the International Air Transport Association. And at one time in his career he was Managing Director of Irish Continental Group - a major Irish Shipping company providing ferry and container shipping services to and from Ireland. Paddy advises and consults to a wide range of organizations in the aviation industry, and acts as Chairman and Moderator at air transport conferences across the world.

Code of business ethics
All of us at Airline Information are committed to developing superior management consultation, business networking opportunities and educational events and tools for our customers, while building a world-class company that conducts business in accordance with the highest ethical standards.

Company policy requires Partners, Directors, employees and agents to observe high standards of business and personal ethics in the conduct of their duties and responsibilities. Partners, Directors and employees must practice fair dealing, honesty and integrity in every aspect of dealing with other Company employees, the public, the business community, customers, suppliers, competitors and government authorities. When acting on behalf of the Company, Partners, Directors and employees shall not take unfair advantage through manipulation, concealment, abuse of privileged information, misrepresentation of material facts, or other unfair-dealing practices.

Company policy prohibits unlawful discrimination against employees, Partners, Directors, officers, customers or suppliers on account of race, color, age, sex, religion or national origin. All persons shall be treated with dignity and respect and they shall not be unreasonably interfered with in the conduct of their duties and responsibilities.

No Partner, Director or employee should be misguided by any sense of loyalty to the Company or a desire for profitability that might cause him or her to disobey any applicable law or Company policy. Violation of Company policy will constitute grounds for disciplinary action, including, when appropriate, termination of employment.

Commitment to sustainable development (Green Conferences)
Airline Information is committed to preserving the environment. Our event planners give the highest priority during the selection process to conference centers that exceed environmental standards. We remain committed to exploring new opportunities to better conserve and reuse our valuable resources.

Airline Information conference and executive meeting facilities require sustainable features including: flooring, wall and window coverings, lighting, and climate control systems; furniture, fixtures, and equipment (FF&E); and operational policies. Recycling, reduced use of non-recyclable items like paper plates and napkins, composting, climate control, reduction or elimination of poisons used at the facility (such as pest control and toxic cleaning products), and water and energy conservation).

Airline Information supports the following standards for conference centers:

Air handlers modified with setback thermostats: A/C to be warmer, and heating to be cooler.

Lighting: retrofit or install energy efficient fluorescent bulbs.

Note paper: minimal use, shredding and recycle left over.

Recycle (paper, plastic, glass, and cans) with visible bins for everyone to use.

Table coverings & napkins: linen, no disposables.

Flatware and utensils: China, glass and silverware, not disposables.

Beverages and condiments: served in bulk dispensers.

Sustainable and local food: low perishable selections from local providers.

Food wastage: composted or donated to local farms.